


The Memory of Wild Things

by saltylikecrait



Series: Folklore Verse [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Blood and Violence, Dancing, F/M, Festivals, Folklore, High Fantasy, Magic, Mild Smut, Mystery, Nature Magic, Nudity, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2020-12-28 20:03:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21142406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltylikecrait/pseuds/saltylikecrait
Summary: On his way to his sister's wedding, Prince Finn of Artorias stops to celebrate the week-long festival in honor of the Gods of Fortune. Meeting a woman in a lion mask, a besotted Finn is given one chance each night to guess her name with a promise to be rewarded if he does.The festivities are interrupted when a hunting party is found dead in the forest under mysterious circumstances.





	1. Night of the Stag God

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kanjiklubgottold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanjiklubgottold/gifts).

“Hold still, will you?”

The doe struggled under his weight, not understanding the human on top of her was trying to help. The more she moved her hind leg, the more the snare dug into it, and he tried using his body to keep her from making more motions. If he didn’t get it off soon, his efforts might be for nothing.

He hadn’t wandered into the forest intending to rescue a doe, but when he came across her and noticed the snare looked old and likely abandoned, he felt pity for the creature. His heart was too soft, as his father often commented, and so, Prince Finn of Artorias couldn't find it within himself to leave the deer to suffer.

This might have been more than he could handle, however. He had the right tool needed to loosen the trap, but the metal screw was rusted and it was taking longer to turn it than it should have. With each attempt to move it, it only turned minimally. His muscles were growing sore.

“Just. A. Bit. More,” he grunted more to himself than to the deer.

It took a couple more attempts, but finally, the screw began to give. He brushed off a layer of peeling rust around the edge to help it along.

The moment the snare stopped clamping down on the doe’s slender leg, she pulled it away and tried to stand up, falling over with exhaustion and pain.

Finn panted. “Stop! Stop!” he pleaded with it. “Let me catch my breath first.”

Standing up, he stumbled over to a nearby pool of water and cupped his hands as he scooped some up. Moving quickly so he didn’t lose too much of the water through his fingers, he went back to the doe, still trying to stand.

“Spirits of the forest,” he said out loud, “please give me your blessing.” Concentrating, Finn willed his thoughts into the water in his hands, requesting it to do as he asked. He could feel the life of the woodlands surround him, from the hawk circling in the sky to the moss at his feet, and focused that wild magic with his intention. There were other ways to practice magic, and probably better techniques, but this was the way he always did it.

Then, he poured the water over the doe’s wound and waited for a moment, watching it quietly and intently.

Before his eyes, blood washed away and skin stitched itself together, leaving no trace of injury there seconds before. The deer tried to stand again, and this time stayed upright. She walked over to the pond to quench her thirst before she eyed Finn and regarded him with curiosity and uncertainty.

“You’re welcome,” he told her.

The doe didn’t stick around much longer. She nibbled a little at the grass on the ground before walking silently away and vanishing behind the shade of massive birch and fir trees.

Looking back at the pool, Finn noticed a path of flat stones dotting the center for the first time. Obviously, it was made by human hands and had a purpose. His eyes followed it straight ahead.

“There it is,” he said to himself and he started to make his way across the water.

This is what he had been searching for when he first set out that morning. Covered with vines and overgrown tall grass, the shrine almost blended in with the natural landscape. If he hadn’t come across the doe, he might have missed it entirely. He tried to tidy up the area as best he could, using his hunting knife to cut away at the vines and trim down the grass, but he knew in just a matter of weeks it would look just as he found it.

He stared at the shrine for a moment, noting the carved lines of the weathered stone. At first glance, it looked cat-like and ferocious with long claws and teeth, but a closer inspection gave him other details: a face that resembled a mask, slender arms with five fingers, a woman’s breasts.

The Goddess of Wild Things, though Finn had yet to learn her name. The locals still honored her for one day during the week-long festival, but they mostly forgot about her the rest of the year which was why her shrine had gotten in such a state. Few people were still aware of this place and the elderly woman he asked about its location was surprised he was interested in it.

Usually, Finn just stopped to pay his respects to the old guardians of the world, hoping he was thanking the right beings for the magic they bestowed upon him. Today, he felt he needed to do more.

Looking around, he spotted a patch of wildflowers growing in a section of tall grass and went over to gather some. He bundled a small bouquet of towering bell-shaped purple ones and smaller bunches of tiny white buds that reminded him of stars. 

Returning to the shrine, he placed the flowers into the arms of the statue and bent his torso into a shallow bow. “Please accept this as my thanks,” he told it.

A chill suddenly ran down his spine and he craned his neck around, feeling like he was being watched. All was quiet around him. There weren’t even birds foraging the ground.

A _coo_ sounded in front of him, and he looked back to see a dove had landed on the statue, staring at Finn like she was studying him. It concerned him that the dove wasn't afraid of him, worried it meant the animals that lived in the woodlands were too used to human visitors. With hunters frequenting the area, too trusting of animals might not have the sense to keep away.

Frowning, he glanced up at the sky and noted it was probably later in the day than he would have preferred. It was growing hot under the afternoon summer sun. His family probably wasn’t happy with his absence as it was and there were still preparations for the first night of the festival to be completed. Finn knew he would be scolded when he returned. 

It would be best for him to hurry back. 

Quickly bowing to the shrine once more, Finn turned around and jogged across the stone pathway.

* * *

He stopped running when he saw the colorful canvas tents in the distance. Though Artorias had its own large celebrations, nothing in his small seaside kingdom compared to the sight before him. Takodana was a large kingdom, full of rich farmland and forests that supported a strong logging industry. Finn’s father dreamed of having a farming industry so stable, their own homeland relying on fishing as their main export and the base of their economy. 

It made him wonder what the kingdom of Yavin would look like. His closest friend was a diplomat from there and often told Finn stories of lush forests similar to this one, only with a warm and wet climate. The animals were apparently colorful and so exotic he could hardly imagine they actually existed. Despite his sister being mere weeks away from her wedding, Finn had never stepped foot in the kingdom before. In fact, he had yet to meet Jannah’s husband-to-be. She seemed to like him enough and to everyone’s understanding, this marriage was solely political. 

They would remain in this area for the next week to join the royal family of Takodana for their week-long festival, _Féile Óir._ Finn couldn’t say he really understood all the details, but he knew it was to honor their God of Fortune and to wish for the kingdom’s prosperous future. It seemed to pay off for them, at least. After the week was up, his family would continue their journey southeast.

As he entered the encampment, he noted the activities of the festival-goers. This particular section was reserved for noblemen and far nicer than what the lower classes were provided with. The ground was elevated enough that water didn’t puddle everywhere when it rained and the servants did their best to make sure the area stayed clean. For one, the air wasn't saturated with a mix of unpleasant scents. The smell of cooked meats didn’t always appeal to Finn, but at least it didn’t have the added aroma of nearby horse droppings along with it.

What was also nice and the reason he selected this area to enter from was that even in his finely woven red tunic, Prince Finn did not stick out like a sore thumb. The noblemen could afford nicer materials and brighter colors for dye, though Finn still left his jewelry in his tent. Wearing his crown would make him noticeable and he wouldn’t want to be spotted by the wrong people in the forest.

His attention, however, kept getting grabbed by the merchants in the area that had enough prestige to be allowed to sell their wares here, and what caught his eye was the loveliest crossbow he had ever seen.

The seller was a local forge that also had a talent for carvings. Etched into the dark wood of the crossbow's foregrip were various insects and flowers. He wasn’t sure why bees and mantises were the choice for embellishment, but they gave the weapon a touch of uniqueness he found nowhere else.

“That crossbow again?” a voice said from behind him.

Finn startled and quickly turned around, placing a clenched fist over his rapidly beating heart when he saw who it was.

“Oh Poe,” he sighed with relief. “It’s just you.”

Even though he was a diplomat representing Yavin, Poe always was good-humored and usually had a smile on his face. He and Finn took to each other instantly, laughing like old friends instead of new acquaintances. It was almost hard to believe they had known each other for five years now; time had gone by so quickly.

Poe stood beside him with his usual lazy smile. “Their Majesties are looking for you.”

Swearing under his breath, Finn began speed-walking towards his family’s tents, Poe following along at his side.

“You know, you can ask your father for the crossbow if you want it so much,” Poe commented. “The forge might gift it to you if they knew who they were.”

“Like my father will be in the mood to give me gifts,” the prince snorted. He stopped short of his family’s series of tents, marked with blue flags decorated with golden crabs. It wasn’t the most frightening animal they could have picked for an insignia, but it had always been theirs. Crabs had kept their people well-fed through the ages and were still a regular staple in their diets.

Patting down his clothes, he tried to make sure there weren’t any leaves or dirt patches on his tunic to give himself away, then he moved his hands to his hair and ran them through his locs. “Drat,” he exclaimed. “My circlet-"

“Looking for this?” Poe slipped a simple gold band out of his pocket – how he got it in there was Finn’s guess – and twirled it around his fingers before handing it to the prince. “Figured you were needing it.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Finn breathed as he slipped it over his head, letting it fall snugly against his forehead.

Laughing, Poe replied, “So you’ve told me.” Waving to the guards posted outside, they were acknowledged with a nod. Poe moved to the nearest tent and held the flap open. “After you.”

Sighing deeply, Finn braced himself for what he would find inside. Walking in, he tried to be as quiet as possible, hoping he could get to a section of the tents that was quieter and often overlooked and pretend he had been there the whole time.

He didn’t get very far. Almost immediately upon entry, the deep, gruff voice of King Caeid rang through the tent. _“Finn!”_

The prince laughed shakily. “Father! I was just looking for-"

“Don’t lie to me,” his father snapped. “Everyone knows exactly where you went off to.” 

Defeated, Finn hung his head and didn’t attempt to explain himself. He knew it would be no good; his family didn’t understand why he felt so strongly about honoring old and nearly-forgotten gods. Magic didn’t run through their veins and they didn’t feel the connection he had to the earth. They would rather him practice swordplay and read up on military practices. As the youngest son of the royal family, he was expected to take on a military role. That was how it had always been. The eldest was their heir, all the children were married off to the best offer, and the youngest would become a warrior.

He understood this all during his childhood, yet years of preparation brought him to realize that was a role he didn’t want and he naively believed his magic could convince his family to break generations of tradition. Even if his sister was sympathetic, being the closest family member to him, his parents and older brother didn’t see the use of a few magic tricks.

The king ran his hand over his face and shook his head in disbelief. “Have you finished preparations for tonight?” he asked.

“Just have to get dressed,” Finn replied, though it was too early still for anyone to get into their festival attire.

Pleased with this, which surprised Finn, the king nodded his head before he turned to Poe. “Leave us,” he ordered.

Bowing deeply, Poe backed out of the tent. He winked at Finn before moving out of eyesight.

King Caeid sat down on a nearby chair, woven the way the baskets the fisherman at home were, and gestured for his son to sit opposite of him. Obeying, Finn settled himself, though he shifted uncomfortably in his spot as he waited for his father to speak.

“Son, it isn’t lost on your mother or me that once Jannah marries, you will be the last of our children to have yet to find their place in the world. That’s to be expected, being the youngest and all.”

Here it was, the talk his parents had with all of their children at some point. It meant his father had decided what he wanted Finn to do with his life. The prince's mind understood this but his heart did not.

Finn waited with bated breath for his father to select his fate.

“When we return home, you will begin your career as an officer and your mother and I will begin the search for a suitable bride.”

It was as he expected, and though there was nothing different from what he speculated he would get, Prince Finn could not help the frown on his face. His father saw his expression and mirrored it. Finn noticed how alike physically they were from their jaw shape to their body type, though the likeness didn’t end there. Both of them favored fairness but also would go to great lengths to get their way.

“You are not pleased,” he observed. “Perhaps you had another path in mind?”

The prince knew it wouldn’t do him any good to fight his father on this, but despite the years he prepared himself for this conversation, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Maybe this time, his mind supplied, the king would hear him out.

“Well,” he tried, “my magic…”

Instantly, his father’s gaze hardened. “Not this again,” he mumbled. “Son, magic is losing its place in the world. It wouldn’t be right for someone of your bloodline to live like a wandering hermit.”

“But surely this is a sign I was meant for something else?” Finn challenged. “The gods wouldn’t have gifted me with it if I was just supposed to be another royal personnel in our military.”

The king clicked his tongue impatiently. “You still want to be a healer,” he recalled. “Out of all the opportunities you could have, you want to forage the forests for herbs and pray to old gods to heal the sick.”

That was when Finn figured he was fighting a losing battle. Magic was not tricks or running around like the local mystic, but his father couldn’t see that. He hated to think one day, magic would truly be dead, but if there was no one left to teach it, that future would be inevitable. Finn only knew what he did through books and his ability was far behind what someone could achieve by his age generations ago. 

Instead of continuing the argument, it was time to let it go. Maybe if he stayed on his best behavior through the wedding, he could convince his parents to reconsider.

“I understand you just want what’s best for me,” Finn concluded, hoping this would appease the king. “May I be excused?”

Caeid's eyes told Finn he wanted to say more before he relented and nodded. “You may. Get ready for tonight. I expect you to be social with everyone there.”

Standing up, Finn bowed respectfully to his father before he went out to find Poe to ask for his help with getting dressed in all his finery.

* * *

“Run this by me one more time, so I’m certain I understand.”

Poe sighed as he tugged at his coat sleeves. “We’ve gone through this how many times? Come on, you know this.”

They stood outside the festivity tent for the noblemen and royals who were joining in on the fun, adjusting their outfits last minute. Finn wasn’t too concerned about his clothes so much as the mask settled over his face. He would admit he hadn’t been so sure about showing up as a ram, and the curling horns sitting on either side of his head made the mask a little heavy, but with the finishing touches of his green tunic with gold embroidery, he thought it looked nice.

Next to him, Poe fiddled with his bronze stag mask. “How ‘bout you walk me through it this time?”

“Fine,” Finn agreed, and he spoke as he pulled at the gold band around his neck. “So _Féile Óir_ is a festival to honor the God of Fortune, but each night celebrates local minor gods for the blessings they give each year.”

“That’s right.” Poe smiled underneath his mask. “And what’s tonight’s god?”

The prince pointed to his friend's mask. “The God of the Hunt, who often takes the form of a stag. Tonight’s celebration will end in a hunt, of course.”

“Correct. And tomorrow’s celebration?”

“The wolf god, for his blessings upon the community.” Finn scratched his neck. “I can’t recall who’s next.”

“The cattle goddess, but we need not remember them all up front.” Poe winked at him. “We can just take each night as it comes.”

Finn was thankful for that. While he always tried to respect each culture he came across as much as he could show, sometimes, large amounts of new information at once could be overwhelming to him. These gods weren’t the ones of his kingdom, though he found some similarities between them.

“I guess there’s no more stalling,” he sighed as he went to move the tent flap to the side and take a peek. Already, a crowd had amassed, picking tables to sit at for the feast that was soon to start. Though the point of the masks was to confuse people of who they were sitting by, he perceived that many people could pick out their family members in a crowd or know what mask they were wearing prior. 

Almost to prove his point, he spotted his sister already at a table to the other side of the tent. It was too easy to figure her out. The golden horse mask was a dead giveaway and he recognized the delicate and airy lilac fabric draped along the neckline of her deep purple gown and cascaded into long, draping sleeves.

“I see Jannah,” he announced to Poe. “We can sit next to her.”

Leading the way inside, Finn quietly circled around the side of the tent until he got to her and swung his leg over the long bench so he could sit. “Why the long face, sister?” he greeted with a snicker.

She groaned. “Finn, if you continue with your bad humor, I might have to turn you away at the wedding, lest my fiancé decide he’d rather not marry into such an annoying family.”

Shrugging, Finn relented. “Very well. I’m sure Theron has already warned them about me.” Their older brother had gone to Yavin ahead of time to oversee the preparations and to work on the marriage contract, hence he was not joining his family at the festival. Finn didn’t mind so much since he and his brother were not close. Theron was many years older than him and Jannah, their parents having difficulty conceiving children after him for a time. By the time Finn was old enough to really form a relationship with his brother, he was already beginning his royal service and was gone most of the time.

Looking over his mask, Jannah frowned. “A ram?”

“Something wrong?” Finn felt dread run down his spine.

“Not at all. I’m just surprised. I thought you would choose a creature more aquatic, for home.”

“And what about you, horse-woman?” he challenged. “Everyone knew what you would wear.”

Poe interjected, “It suits you though.” And really, Finn was in agreement with him. His sister was one of the most accomplished equestrians in the kingdom, a talented hunter and racer. Theron was probably establishing a clause in her marriage contract that she would continue her hobbies and talents without interference by the Yavinese royal family, though Finn doubted they were dumb enough to ask. They would probably want her to train their horses and compete in their own circuits.

Pleased with Poe’s comment, Jannah hummed. “For that, I owe you a dance. Could you please do me a favor though and teach my brother how to be just as charming?”

Feigning hurt, Finn countered, “I am charming.”

His sister’s tilted head said otherwise.

A group of people swarmed into the tent and began to sit themselves down at random, prompting the three to be quiet as they regarded the guests and observed the masks and outfits parade in front of them.

Two women dressed in cat masks – one black and one white – sat down across from them. Judging by the similarity of their outfits and their sleek black hair, Finn figured they were sisters, or at least closely related. While the woman in the black mask was friendly with them, the other was not and would turn her partner away to chat privately with her from time to time.

“I don’t suppose anyone’s made an announcement of when the feast is to start?” asked the woman in the black mask. “We got here only a few hours ago and have worked up an appetite.”

“Shouldn’t be too long now,” said Finn. “Once they herald in the royal families, they’ll start bringing food out.” His parents would sit up with the royal family of Takodana - distant relatives of his father - along with some other visitors while their children were allowed to mingle with other guests. It was nice to not worry about formalities and getting rank and hierarchies right.

Just as he was thinking this, trumpet rang through the tent and everyone stood up. The elderly queen of Takodana, Maz was the first inside, wearing a golden doe mask that seemed to be an heirloom of sorts. A valet offered his hand to help her sit down and her seat, but she walked by him and sat herself down, prompting a couple of quiet chuckles throughout the benches. Queen Maz was well known for her fire and wisdom and she would not let age slow her down.

His parents were the next to be ushered in, his father too broad of a man to go unnoticed. On his arm, his mother walked beside him with the grace she was best known for. Many said Finn got his gentleness from her. They both wore masks that were carved with sea creatures instead of looking like the face of one particular animal. On his father’s mask, he could see the outline of sharks hunting fish. For his mother’s, silver dolphins swam playfully.

They sat on either side of Queen Maz to be her main company. Finn wondered how often his father communicated with his cousin and if they had much to catch up on.

Once everyone was settled, Queen Maz stood up and gestured for them to sit down. Silence spread about the room, the guests waiting to see if the queen would make a speech or call to prayer.

“I suppose you’re all expecting me to say a few words, but I know you don’t really care about what an old woman thinks.” She held up her hands. “Blessings of the gods upon you all.”

Many of the guests hooted in delight, thanking the queen as the first courses of the feast were brought out on large platters. Plates of meat, a cooked boar and wild game, sometimes needing multiple servers to bring them out. Roasted vegetables, bowls of salads, fried potatoes that smelled heavenly from where Finn was sitting. All of it looked delicious.

He helped himself to spiced wine and some of those potatoes and vegetables first. Savoring their taste and how they practically melted in his mouth. Then, he moved on to the heavier meats, selecting a pair of drumsticks for himself while he sat back and watched everyone around him. Playing a game with himself, Finn gazed upon the masks and their wearers and tried to guess by their mannerisms and clothing where they were from and whether they were royal or noble.

Between this and the conversations he had around his table, the time between courses passed pleasantly. Soon, a quartet of musicians were ushered in and given time to set up their instruments as excited whispers echoed through the tent. He could see a few people glance toward others, knowing they were eyeing their prospect dance partners.

This was the part Finn dreaded the most. Sure, he had to learn dances like every other royal, but that didn’t mean he was good at it. He had embarrassed himself and a few dance partners enough to know that anyone with any knowledge of his skills would shy away from him.

True to her word, as tables were moved away to allow space for dancers, Jannah paired herself up with Poe. Normally, the first dance was reserved for suitors, spouses, or fiancés, but since Jannah’s husband-to-be was not here and the masks concealed identities, it didn’t matter much.

Glancing around the room to see if anyone was looking for a partner, Prince Finn perceived a sudden sensation of shyness that kept him from approaching anyone. Without his identity concealed, everyone was aware he was a prince and didn’t dare to turn him away, now he wondered without that to ensure success in finding a partner, would anyone be interested in a young man in a ram mask?

The quiet woman in the white cat mask approached him, acting almost as shy as he was feeling.

“Do you have a partner?” she asked him.

Finn glanced over at his father for a moment and made direct eye contact with him. King Caeid nodded slightly, making it clear he wanted his son to be sociable. 

He hoped the woman didn’t catch on to his initial hesitance. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings. Holding his hand out for her to cover it with her own, Finn led the woman to the dance floor.

Quickly, the woman realized what a poor choice of a partner he was and her annoyance became evident along where her mouth was visible. She tried to help him out, but it was hopeless and he tried his best to avoid stepping on her. Embarrassed, the prince tried to focus on something besides his feet and ended up staring at the unusual pendant around her neck, trying to place if it represented her culture or not.

When the song ended, the woman slipped to the side of her sister and didn’t ask him to dance again. He sat alone along the benches for a time while Poe and Jannah switched off with different partners. Everyone must have seen the performance he gave because no one else came along to ask him. His father would probably chastise him later and get his another dance teacher to salvage what little skills the prince possessed.

“Excuse me,” a woman’s deep voice came from behind him. “Would you dance with me?”

Shocked anyone would offer, Finn turned around to see who was asking, thinking they must be blind. 

Speechless upon first glance, Finn beheld her. As simple as the cream-colored dress skimming over her slender figure was, he might have mistaken her for a commoner if it weren’t for the golden fur draped around her shoulders. Her draping bell sleeves were tattered strategically, making the fabric hang like streamers. 

Then, he stared at her mask. Cat-like, it had an ancient regal appearance with a squared profile. It took him a moment to realize he had seen the design before from the old carving of the goddess he had expressed gratitude to earlier in the day. In fact, the mask the woman wore was almost exactly the same as the one carved into the shrine.

She was not dressed as a cat; she was a forest lioness. He wondered if the fur around her shoulders was also of a forest lion.

He hoped he wasn’t gaping at her, but he found her beautiful even if he couldn’t see her face. All he could tell about her was she had tan skin and chestnut hair. Takodana had many ethnic cultures in its kingdom, so he wondered if she was local or if she was from the northern kingdoms.

Realizing he was probably taking too long to speak and about to spark awkwardness between them, he stood up. “Are you sure?” he asked her.

Mask covering her entire face, Finn could not see her reaction. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Did you not see how I danced earlier?” Finn felt embarrassed. “I was appalling.”

Expecting her to reconsider and leave, the prince braced himself for rejection. She surprised him again.

“Maybe you just need the right dance partner,” she mused and held out her hand. “I can’t say I’m great myself; we’ll probably be a good match.”

Her forwardness shocked him, and he hesitated a moment before he held his own hand out to take hers. Staring at her, he glimpsed hazel eyes flecked with gold under the lion mask and found her mesmerizing.

Leading her out to the dance area, he caught Poe’s eye and saw him smiling at him.

The music began and Finn and the woman made quick bows to one another before they circled around, allowing their flat palms to touch at a vertical angle. Their gazes linked as they continued this step.

“What is your name?” Finn found he couldn’t help but ask.

There was a smile in her answer. “I believe that’s against custom,” she told him. “The point of the masks is to hide who we are.”

“My apologies,” he spluttered.

“Not needed,” she said. “I suppose it’s not against rules if you guess my name, however.”

Finn couldn’t help but laugh. “And how am I to do that? I know nothing about you.”

“There are ways,” she said. “You seem like a clever man.” Then, when they drew closer in their steps, she whispered, “I saw what you did for the old shrine in the forest. You were very kind to care.”

He gasped, not thinking anyone else had been out there. His eyes caught the flowers woven carefully into her hair, small, white, and star-shaped. The same flowers he had offered to the shrine as a token of his gratitude. 

“So how is this fair? You know who I am, but I don’t know who you are?”

She laughed, a cross between a giggle and a chuckle. “Maybe not fair, exactly. _Fun_ might be a better word.” Remaining silent for a moment, she spoke again after she placed her hand on Finn’s shoulder. “How about this: you get a guess each night, and if you guess wrong, I give you a hint.”

“And if I guess correctly?”

“I’ll give you a reward worth your while,” she promised him. “So how about it? Care to venture a guess?”

Thinking about it, Finn didn’t see the harm in guessing her name. If anything, it made him a lot more curious about her. He started to come up with names in his head he knew were common in this area for someone that resembled her.

Finally, he selected at random. “Kira?”

Like he figured, he guessed wrong. “Sorry,” she told him, amusement in her voice. “Here’s your hint.” Leaning in, she whispered in his ear. “We’ve already met, but I did not look as I do now.”

Taken aback, he asked, “Are you Artorian? Am I allowed to ask a question?”

Pausing, she considered for a moment before replying, “No.” Though when Finn thought about it, it could have been a response for either question.

When the dance ended, she backed away. “See? You’re not a bad dancer after all.”

The prince swayed as if coming out of a trance. Being so caught up in her game, he almost forgot he was dancing too. For the first time he could recall, his movements were smooth and effortless.

“Must have had the right dance partner,” he told her.

He could hear another smile in her response. “I’m glad I won’t have to search for a partner every night. Tomorrow then?”

“Tomorrow.”

If he didn’t know better, the woman swayed her hips a bit more to tease him as she walked away.

Finn was so caught up with staring at her that he didn’t notice Poe approaching until he felt a strong pat on his back.

“Hey, who’s the girl?” he asked. “You two looked like you were enjoying each other.”

“Dunno,” said Finn. “I didn’t get her name.”

“Too bad. You two made quite the pair. The lioness and the ram.” Poe pretended to swoon dramatically. “Like a fairy tale.”

“Poe-" Finn felt exasperated.

“It wasn’t just me,” his friend added. “Everyone was watching you. I think your parents were _scheming_ with Queen Maz once they laid eyes on you.”

At the dais, Finn noticed his parents lean back to talk to one another. His father staring at him through the corner of his eye. Well, he supposed he couldn’t be surprised. The festival was a place where nobles of multiple kingdoms mingled together; it was an opportunity of scouting out prospect matches for marriages. 

Turning around to search for the woman again, Finn found she was nowhere to be seen. Come to think of it, Finn hadn’t seen her at the feast earlier either.

She said they had met before, but she had appeared different. Finn’s brain waded through memories and tried to think of every woman he had ever met that matched her profile, realizing there were too many that fit the description but none were like her in action and words. Perhaps he had ran into her somewhere outside the tent where the nobles stayed their nights. Maybe she was one of the merchants selling outside and snuck in to join them.

Finn decided it wouldn’t hurt to walk around the festival and see who he could spot.

Once it grew dark, a horn sounded outside the tent, prompting more excitement among the guests.

This was the part Finn didn’t want to take part in. The celebration honoring the stag was a nighttime hunt. It didn’t feel right to hunt animals for sport, and so the prince always sat out of these parties. Jannah and their father would probably go, so he didn’t feel pressure to join so that Artorias had representation.

The partakers gathered outside, including his sister. She would never give up the chance to be on horseback. Their servants brought her a horse and her bow and quiver, helping her mount up.

“Good hunt, sister,” he bade her.

Starting to move her mouth like she was going to ask him to come with her, she stopped herself. Her brother had never been one to enjoy these kinds of activities. “I suppose you have a different hunt in mind tonight.” It was hard to tell, but he thought Jannah winked at him under her mask.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he feigned, but she was half-right. He wouldn’t go to bed right away; if he could, he’d ask anyone still around if they knew about the woman in the lion’s mask.

Poe ran up to them, a hound at his heels. “I’m going too,” he panted. “Beebee could use the exercise.”

Running his hand lightly over the white and red dog’s head, Finn smiled. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” Beebee was Poe’s pet more than anything else, but in the last couple of days, he didn’t get a chance to stretch his legs as much as his owner would have liked and often paced around their tents.

“Good hunt, you three,” he said again as his sister urged her horse into a trot, Poe jogging beside them.

* * *

After walking up and down the encampment and finding no sign of the woman nor anyone that had an idea of who she was, Finn returned to his tent feeling defeated. 

He slid off his tunic and pants and changed into something less regal, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he walked to the living section of the group of tents, flaps open and rolled up to allow the warm summer air in.

His mother was there, sitting on a cushioned wick sofa and staring out at the night sky. When he heard her son approach, she turned to him and smiled warmly.

“Any idea who your lioness is?” she asked.

Finn spluttered. “How did you-?”

Queen Isana moved over and offered him a spot to sit beside her. He noticed she wasn’t in her regalia either, opting for her simpler blue gown and allowing her thick ringlets of hair to hang loosely. 

“It doesn’t take much observation to see how smitten you were with her at the dance,” she explained. “Your father and I thought you made a handsome couple; we’ve never seen you act that way around a woman before.” Continuing to smile, she sat a gentle hand on her son’s arm. “If you do learn who she is, we’d like to know.”

“At this rate, it isn’t likely,” Finn mumbled.

Giving her son a knowing look, the queen replied, “Have faith. You still have six days to find out.”

Thinking back to what the woman had said to him during their dance, he recalled she had said she spotted him in the forest tending to the shrine. Perhaps if he went there tomorrow, he would run into her there.

Well, it was worth a shot.

He and his mother discussed the next day of festivities and ideas on who to ask about the woman’s identity. It had never occurred to him that his mother might want to help him with such an endeavor, believing she would have wanted to choose a potential bride for him along with his father. Perhaps they imagined if the woman in the lioness mask was a noble, it would make their job easier.

They decided to stay up until the hunting party returned that night, but when they saw the torches finally light up the path to the forest, the frantic shouting from the hunters was anything but victorious. Finn and his mother stood at the edge of the tent, watching them.

Finally, they were close enough that Finn could hear what they were calling out. His heart sunk in his chest.

_“Murder! Murder!”_

Neither could not see who was coming, as dark as it was. A worried glance from his mother made Finn spring into action.

“I’m sure they’re all right, Mother,” he told her. “I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

The queen nodded. “If you see your father and your sister, send them back to me at once.”

Breaking into a jog, the prince went to join the crowd gathering outside and observed the hunting party as they returned. Already, rumors were going around about what misfortune befell the hunters, but Finn thought it would be wise to ignore them. He would get the story from his family, who had actually been there.

Relief flooded him when he saw his father and sister trotting up to the gates. He approached them.

“Are you all right?”

His father answered. “Yes, our party was fine.”

“What happened?” asked Finn.

The king explained, “When we got to the forest, the party broke off into groups of three. We went off to track a stag – we caught it, by the way – and another party wanted to track a forest lion that had been spotted the day before. Well, all was going well, but then a horn sounded to call an emergency. When we gathered, we found a group of five men lying dead in a pond, their throats slit.”

“Did anyone find the killer?”

Jannah spoke. “No, and some people are arguing if it was a human or not. Some of the men say the forest is cursed and the goddess there killed them.”

Wanting to roll his eyes, Finn wondered if the fanatical beliefs of the locals would make it difficult for anyone to investigate the deaths. He glimpsed behind them and watched a cart drive in slowly, the crowd lowering their heads in respect. Poe walked in the back of it with Beebee leashed to keep the hound close.

“I’ll meet you back at the tent,” he told them. “Mother’s worried sick.” Before they could answer him, he walked quickly to the end of the line, past Poe, and peered into the cart. The sight made him feel as ill as his friend looked.

Five men, all from various regions based on their clothing and appearance, lay side by side. They stared wide at the sky, blank gazes never to see again, as if they died in shock.

Finn stared at the slash marks on their necks and discovered each had a clear cut across, right under their chin where blood still dripped out of their wound, soaking the fabric of their clothing and staining the wood of the cart's floor. The question that remained with the prince was whether this was the work of a man or a beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this was posted for Finnrey Friday, all future chapters will be uploaded on Saturdays starting next week. I have not completed the full draft but would like to by the time of the release of _The Rise of Skywalker._ In the event chapters haven’t been finished, I will make note of this.


	2. Night of the Wolf God

“This is the spot?”

The next morning, Jannah and Poe led him back into the forest to the side of a bluff where a small waterfall drained into a shallow pool. The dead men were found here; the gruesome details still not pieced together.

“Yeah,” Poe responded. “This is the place.”

They weren’t the first to be out here and any trace of evidence might have been tampered with on purpose or by accident. The noblemen and their way of investigating left much to be desired. If it had been murder, the culprit easily could get away with it.

Finn wanted to make sure justice was served. If his magic could be of any use to help, he would gladly offer his talents.

He walked along the area up and down, treading carefully and observing everything around him from the rocks along the pool to the distance it would have taken to fall from the bluff. There were no signs of weapons, no tears of cloth that came from the men’s clothes, nothing.

It wasn’t until his third circle around the pool that he noticed something in the mud.

“Jannah,” he called out. “Come look at this.”

She and Poe moved to be by his side and he pointed out the imprint of a track in the ground. Furrowing her brows, Jannah crouched down and took a moment to study it.

“Forest lion,” she concluded.

Her brother frowned. “You sure?”

“Don’t know what else it could be around here.” She stood up and shrugged. “It’s hard to tell by the mud around here, but the tracks seem fresh.”

Poe spoke up. “It might not mean anything,” he theorized. “Perhaps it just came here to drink.”

That would be one explanation and more than likely. The track seemed to have been made by light pressure, not what he would expect to see from an attacking forest lion. Finn wondered if anyone else saw the track and what they made of it.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything else here,” he heaved a sigh. “We should probably head back.”

Taking the path from which they came, they chatted quietly among themselves to not disturb anything that might be lurking around. Poe and Jannah were more concerned about what would be served for breakfast when they got back, but Finn was only half-listening to them. The morning dew brushed over the fauna made everything shimmer in the sunlight and the birdsong that echoed through the trees was bright and cheerful to his ears. It was almost hard to believe what happened last night occurred here when everything seemed so peaceful.

They came to an area overgrown with vines and bushes and treaded carefully though the tall grass in case there were snakes. The trees had thinned out around here, making it easier to see ahead of them.

It caught him off guard when his foot made contact with something solid and jagged, a contrast to the soft ground and grass. Bending down, he brushed the stalks to the side and found remnants of a stone pillar.

“What is it?” Jannah stopped in her tracks to see what he was doing while Poe nearly walked into her.

Finn didn’t answer them right away and gazed around the area. Upon closer inspection, he found traces of similar structures around him. A crumbled wall. Stones that looked like flooring. Cracked tile.

“There was something here?” he said. “A building?”

The others began to look too, pointing out things as they walked around. Another pillar. Carvings. It resembled the broken remains of a stone pedestal.

A shadow in the distant trees startled the prince, causing him to move his hand to the hilt of his sword as he spun around to see what it was. Relief flooded him when he saw the shadow was nothing more than a statue covered by overgrowth.

Approaching the statue, Finn stared at the hideous creature depicted in the stonework, a monstrous bird sitting at the edge of its pedestal, its wings folded and head positioned as if it was watching them. Resembling the lion goddess he visited the day before, it had human features of broad shoulders and feet instead of talons. 

And resembling the goddess, this creature also wore a mask. It had very little features other than the cylindrical beak extending away from the face and the carving in the stone creating ridges along the eyes. 

The prince rattled his memory to recall if he’d ever seen a bird like this or if he’d heard of anyone mention a god from this region that matched it. As sinister as it appeared, he tried to speculate why anyone would pay tribute to such a creature or ask for its blessing.

The sun caught against two golden orbs in the trees and Finn braced himself when he glanced at their eerie light in the darkness. Something was watching him.

He wondered if it was the same something he felt the presence of yesterday.

As he once again moved his hand to unsheathe his sword, the eyes disappeared into the darkness of the trees and did not appear again. It must be an animal, he surmised, and his movement scared it off. Another deer perhaps.

“What’s this?” Poe approached from behind, staring at the statue.

“Any idea what this could be?” Finn asked.

Moving his hand to touch the beak, Poe took in all the details until his eyes reached the ground. “Whatever it is,” he said, “I don’t think it’s the original.” He tapped his boot against a rigid rock in front of the statue, similar in color to it. 

Finn glanced around the area again, trying to piece the surroundings together. “You think this was once a shrine?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” his friend responded. 

If it was a shrine, it didn’t look like it had been reclaimed by the land naturally. Whatever happened here, it was destroyed and someone put the statue in to replace another. But what? Was it a replica of the old one?

“Can we get going?” Jannah shouted to them. She balanced on the balls of her feet impatiently. “I’m starving.”

Sighing, Finn created a mental map for himself on where this was in case he wanted to stop by and have another look. Maybe he could try to focus his magic here for practice, to see if that led him to any hints of the statue’s meaning. He’d rather return to this place alone so he could concentrate. 

“All right,” he shouted back. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The encampment was less merry and lighthearted today, he noticed as he walked alone to the tent where the victims were being kept. As if the celebrations had been snuffed out, people talked quietly among one another as they went about their morning chores. Many looked as if they were walking in a daze, their movements automatic and unfocused. 

Queen Maz called for a period of mourning out of respect for the families of the men, though she did not require appropriate attire for the occasion, knowing very few attendees had brought clothes for it for travel. No one expected this to happen at Féile Óir. Maybe a couple of drunken fights would break out, but in memory, no one ever died before.

Stopping in front of the tent, Finn slipped a coin into the guard’s hand and stepped inside. No one else was there, just him and the dead. The embalmers would likely arrive to the festival soon to prepare the bodies for their journey home. The queen sent messengers to ride out that morning to inform the families that weren’t at the encampment. 

Pulling the sheet draped over the body closest to him, Finn grimaced at the sight of the young Alderaanian lord. Their eyes had been closed, finally, saving the prince from the uncomfortable sight of an unseeing stare, but now that the bodies were cleaned of blood, he got a better picture of what happened last night.

It wasn’t a clean cut across the neck like he initially thought. Three ragged lines tore across the skin and when he went to confirm the wounds on the other bodies, he found all were nearly identical. 

Prince Finn could not think of a weapon capable of this, but he had a hard time believing an animal would have made an identical attack on all of the men.

Pulling a stool from the corner of the tent, he sat next to the Alderaanian and took his hand in his. He did nothing for a moment, wondering how he should try to do this. For all his magic had done for him so far, Finn was not a seer and was not sure how to call upon the spirits of the past to show him a sign.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on visualizing the young lord and the place where the bodies were found. It seemed like as good of a place to start as any. He asked any spirit or god listening to show him the truth.

To his shock, flashes of images entered his mind, though changing too quickly for him to really grasp their meaning. His hair stood on the back of his neck as the feeling of magic and the smell of rotted wood surrounded him. A glint of gold in the moonlight. Claws running across exposed tanned skin. Black tattered fabric draping in water but not soaking through.

_“Stop!”_

A woman’s voice echoed in his ears, causing Finn to lose his focus and resurface to reality with a gasp. He glanced around the tent and found he was still alone.

Taking a moment to analyze the images, the prince found he wasn’t any closer to understanding what happened than when he woke up that morning.

Deciding to give it a rest, he exited the tent and breathed in the warm summer air. Hints of the forest pine carried over to the clearing for the encampment. If it weren’t for him not wanting to concern his parents, he would have liked to find a stream or pond to wade in.

Leaning against a post, Poe was waiting for him, his loyal hound at his side. He straightened himself when Finn approached. “Anything?”

“I’m not certain,” the prince confessed as he stroked Beebee under his neck, “but I don’t think an animal did this.”

Biting on his lower lip, Poe frowned. “The other nobles saw the track at the scene too. They think a forest lion did it. It might be hard to convince them otherwise.”

This didn’t sit well with Finn. “I don’t want anyone to be blamed for this if they are innocent. Even a forest lion. It doesn’t seem right.”

Placing his hand on the curve of the prince’s arm, Poe firmly grasped it and shook it to comfort his friend. “I know, Your Highness. It’s why you’re a good man.”

He wondered if others would still think he was a good man if he disobeyed his family’s orders on what to do with his life or if he gave up on finding the killer. Magic was handy, but without a proper teacher, Finn could only do so much.

Feeling tired, the prince decided to squeeze a nap in before he needed to get ready for the night’s celebrations, then his mind wandered to the woman in the lion mask. She said she would dance with him every night, and though he had no idea what to offer up as his guess for her name this evening, excitement lifted Finn’s spirits a tiny bit.

* * *

The feast was a lot like the one before, though not with the same excitement. Forbearing hung over the guests tonight with three less in their number and the abruptness of the tragedy. There was some comfort in being more familiar with the people around them; Finn noticed the guests were acting a little more welcoming to those they didn’t know. Perhaps in the shadow of the murders, goodwill was shining through. 

Prince Finn looked around the feast three times before disappointment sunk his spirits. The woman in the lion mask was nowhere to be found.

His friend and sister got wind of his dampened mood and tried to show him sympathy by adding more desserts to his plate and telling more stories of their adventures in Yavin or while hunting. 

“I wonder if she was related to any of the men that were murdered,” Finn finally mumbled to them. Those families were absent from the feast tonight, a choice respected by all the guests. Some of them already announced their intention to leave the next morning to arrive ahead of their loved one’s body to make funeral arrangements.

“Maybe.” Jannah frowned. “I’d like to extend my sympathies to her if she is.”

Poe sighed, “Assuming we get to learn her name.” He gazed at Finn directly, his brown eyes looking solemn. “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

He didn’t answer, realizing that though he only talked to her briefly, the idea of not learning her name hurt. 

As the benches were moved to the side for the guests and the tables were cleared and moved out of the tent, Finn prepared for another evening of possible rejection from potential dance partners. He wouldn’t ask the woman in the cat mask again, but maybe someone forgot his poor ability from the events of the night before and would take pity on him.

Finn was content to sit on a bench and watch the sunset when Poe elbowed him rather roughly in the side. “Ow! What was that-?”

“It’s her,” Poe talked through the side of his mouth.

Almost too quickly, Finn’s head snapped in the direction Poe was looking, feeling the muscle in his neck strain. Indeed, she was here. Wearing the same costume as the evening before (many others were), she stood in the corner of the tent calmly watching the dancers. 

Debating if he should wait for her to approach again, Finn thought it would be a nice change if he did the asking. He stood up once the current dance was at its end, trying to move as smoothly around the benches as he could.

“Would you dance with me, m’lady?” he asked her.

Her eyes met his again. “Well, I _did_ promise you,” she told him and held out her hand for him to take. He noted a leather bracelet on her wrist this time, certain she hadn’t worn it before. On a second glance, he examined the sketch of the outline of a forest lion, purposely weathered to give the inside of the sketch a solid tan coloring.

“Your family sigil wouldn’t happen to also be a lion, would it?” he asked her.

She paused for a moment before replying. “Not exactly.”

Another vague answer; Finn had to keep himself from visibly sighing. He had no idea what that meant and was no closer to learning her identity.

He saw a lot of stares their way as he led her to the dance floor quietly, his parents included. They stood perpendicular to one another, waiting for the music to start. When the strings hummed their first note, the prince and his dance partner pressed their hands together, palms flat, and stepped forward.

“I’ll admit, when I didn’t see you at the feast, I thought you weren’t going to show,” he told her.

“My apologies, Your Highness,” she said, the title reminding Finn she knew who he was. “I had some… matters to attend to.” Her voice sounded distant.

“Nothing bad, I hope?” Finn prompted.

His lady lioness didn’t answer him. They circled each other three more times before she spoke again. “Care to take another guess?” 

Not having more than another random answer, he replied, “Roslyn?”

“Here’s my hint for the night,” she leaned in again. “My name is whispered among the trees of the forest.”

It didn’t help him any more than her hint from the night before, but it did somewhat confirm she was from this area. Maybe.

The guests sitting this dance out clapped politely when the song ended. Finn hoped the woman would stay longer and dance with him more, but she pulled away from him and began to walk out of the tent, brushing past Poe who tried to offer a dance himself.

“Woah,” he yelped. “Something happen between you two?”

Finn walked past his friend and hurried after her. “Wait,” he called as he exited the tent. “Can’t you stay for just a bit longer?”

She kept moving. “I better not,” she replied. “I need to be-"

It made him wonder again if maybe she wasn’t a noble and not supposed to be in this area. If that were true, Finn still wouldn’t be angry about it. There was no harm in her sneaking in to dance.

“At least let me walk you to where you’re headed,” he begged. “Or somewhere nearby.”

Pausing, the woman stared at him, but he could not tell if she pleased with the offer or not with her face hidden. She held out her hand, exasperated. “Fine, but when I tell you to go, please do as I ask.”

The prince was taken aback by her attitude, not used to someone who knew his title to act like she was. It confused him greatly. Her late arrival made him suspect she was someone with duties to attend to but the way she spoke to him made her seem she believed she was higher in the hierarchy than him somehow. 

He took her hand again, trying to hold it firmly without being too rough, like he was scared if she let go, she would vanish into the night like a wisp of morning mist. “Lead the way,” he told her.

Taking him through the campground, they walked past vacant open-air stalls and into the area where the richer merchants set up their own celebrations. Several bonfires flared against the dark sky along the outer rows of the camp where they were designated as safe from being a hazard. Their music blared, voices slurring songs and shadows of dancers seen through the canvas of tents. Next door, a group of men played a game of cards, betting what they could afford (and probably what they couldn’t too).

Someone must have won the pot, because the disappointed groans and angry shouts of the players echoed outside.

“My friends,” the smooth voice of a man rang out. “I told you, not many are blessed with the luck to beat me.”

The woman in the lion mask snapped her head in the direction of the tent. “Of course _he’d_ be here,” she mumbled. 

“Someone you know?” Finn asked curiously.

She kept walking. “An acquaintance. No one of consequence.”

They stopped outside the gate of the campground where the path split into two. It led to the west of the forest or out to the grasslands to the north.

Gripping his hand, she turned to face the prince. “This is where I leave you,” she told him. “Promise me you will walk back to your family and not look to see where I’ve gone.”

Finn breathed. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Locking eyes for a moment, Finn wished it was light enough to see the flecks of gold again. She began to answer, “I-"

A scream tore through the night.

Startled, the pair broke apart and looked around. The woman cursed under her breath, pulling her fur caplet as close as she could to herself. “It can’t be… Not this early.” Turning back towards the camp, she walked in the scream's direction.

The prince followed her in haste. “Wait,” he said. “What do you mean-?”

Turning a corner, they halted in their steps when they spotted a body lie still on the ground, a wolf mask hanging lopsided off the dead woman’s face.

Approaching the body, they studied her. “This is the singer that was supposed to perform tonight,” he gasped, recognizing the mask as a ceremonial one. The night was to end in song, a prayer to the wolf god who watched over the community. 

Moving the mask away, they saw the dead eyes of the singer staring blankly at the sky and blood pooling to the ground, oozing from her neck in a sea of red.

“Just like the men in the forest…” Finn observed out loud.

The sound of running footsteps pattered on the ground loudly nearby. The woman in the lion mask tugged the prince’s hand, urging him away. “You can’t be seen here,” she told him. “Come on.”

She took him behind another group of tents, just in time before they heard a man shout, “Another one?” 

Panting, Finn clutched his hand over his heart and turned to the woman. “You said at the gate it was too early for this.” He looked at her with accusation. “You know something about these murders, don’t you?”

Pausing again, like she was debating what to say, the woman moved her hand to brush her hand over the prince’s arm. “If I say too much, we’ll both be in danger,” she told him. 

Finn felt his eyes widen under the pressure of his mask, wishing he could be rid of it to wipe the sweat beading his brow. “So you _do_ know something.”

“Yes,” she said, with hesitance.

This wasn’t going to go anywhere if she just gave him one-worded answers, but if she thought more trouble would come to them, that they would specifically be targeted by the murderer, she had her reasons for secrecy. There must be a way for him to get more out of her that would be useful.

“Can you give me a hint?” he tried.

Nervously, she dragged her foot in a circular motion in the dirt before she looked back at him.

Her answer almost felt like a warning.

“The killer is the monster inside all of you.”

Finn tried to make sense of her wording, but she urged him to walk to the gate with her, stopping short of exiting the campground.

“Go back to your family, Your Highness,” she said. “Death will not come for you there, at least, not tonight.”

He tried to ask her more questions, but the sudden shouts of the guests in the area tore his attention from her for a moment and when he turned back, his lady lioness was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes from this chapter:
> 
> Forest lions are the equivalent of mountain lions/cougars/pumas.
> 
> The overall setting of the story has a lot of Celtic inspiration behind it. I made this choice because _Finn_ and _Jana (Jannah)_ are Irish names. I imagine there are a lot of rich fabrics in the festival clothes for the wealthy characters with Celtic knot designs being popular for embroidery or jewelry (such as Finn's circlet).


	3. Night of the Cattle Goddess

Awaking to the morning light streaming through the tent, Prince Finn’s mouth felt dry and he hesitated to get up, wondering if he got any sleep at all. Between the heat and his racing thoughts, he wasn’t sure if he ever went to sleep in the night, tossing and turning on his cot.

After the mysterious woman left him, he wandered back into his tent, shucked off his tunic and trousers, and laid down without a word to anyone. His father checked in on him in the night, but didn’t bother him.

He kept thinking of his lady lioness and her cryptic message: _The killer is the monster inside all of you._

All night, his mind supplied answers to her riddle, but none of them made enough sense to him to be logical. It seemed just as he was nowhere closer to learning her name, he was still taking his first steps into discovering the identity of the murderer.

Deciding to get up and greet the morning, he dressed in simple attire, figuring today he would walk the campground to listen in on the gossip surrounding last night’s death. Addling his brain, he recalled tonight’s celebration would be for the cattle goddess, but he wasn’t sure what that entailed. A feast and dancing, as usual, but there would be a specific activity later to honor the goddess. He wondered if the singer’s death ruined the overall festival if she couldn’t sing to honor the wolf god.

Walking through the tent flap of his sleeping space, Finn was greeted with the sight of his father, already up and drinking a cup of tea while he waited for his son. The prince knew he wanted to talk to him about last night and there would be no getting around it.

His father looked at him expectantly and Finn pulled up the other chair at the table and sat. Pouring his son a cup of tea, the king remained silent.

“I find a cup of green tea each morning helps create calm before my duties start,” he said, like he was giving Finn a tip.

“It is nice,” the prince agreed, smelling the warm aroma of the brew. Taking a sip, it eased the cottony feel of his tongue and relaxed his jaw.

They sat in quiet for a few minutes, enjoying their drink. Finn thought to how his father often seemed a lot calmer than his advisers during times of uncertainty and he wondered if this morning ritual contributed to that at all.

Finally, King Caeid went to business. “Where did you go last night with that woman?”

“Just walked her around the encampment until she wanted to leave for the night. That was all. We talked.”

The king looked at him carefully, scanning his face for signs that his son might be lying. “Did you find out who she is?” he asked.

Unable to hide his disappointment, Finn replied, “No.”

“And all you did was talk?” Caeid looked doubtful.

“Yes.”

Staring again like he didn’t completely believe him, the king continued his questioning. “What about when the body was found?”

Deciding to play dumb, Finn knew he had to be careful of what he could reveal. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to the fact that he and his lady lioness were the ones to discover the dead woman.

“We heard a scream,” he said. “And when we figured out where it came from, there was already a crowd around the body.”

“You saw nothing suspicious either?”

“No sir,” Finn answered honestly this time. “There were a lot of people celebrating, but nothing seemed amiss.”

It looked like his father accepted this answer and hummed worriedly. “Your mother and I have talked about leaving,” he said. “The deaths on the first night were alarming enough. We fear for you and your sister.”

While he understood how his family felt, the illogical part of Finn’s mind supplied if he left, he would never get the chance to learn either identities of the woman or the killer, though what upset him more was over the woman’s name. It was to his understanding too that she knew the identity of the killer but worried about her own safety if she revealed it.

He kept sensing something was off about her, but he wasn’t sure what. The whole situation of the festival threw him even more for a loop, like the two were connected. The vision he saw the day before made him want to believe magic was involved somehow, but he wasn’t experienced enough to be certain.

It made him want to go for a walk, though not to clear his head. He wanted to check out everything in the aftermath of last night, hear what people had to say, investigate for himself. Hopefully, his family wouldn’t catch wind of what he was up to, though he figured Jannah probably would because of their outing to the forest yesterday. He had the mind to speak with her and ask her to keep that a secret.

"Thank you for the tea, Father," he said, standing up and hoping to be excused.

The king likely knew Finn was trying to avoid too much questioning about the night before, but he didn't relent. "Just one more thing, Finn."

Waiting for his father to take another gulp of tea, he stared at the gold rings that decorated the king's broad fingers silently, trying his best to feign patience.

"I know the tradition of wearing masks at the celebrations brings out strong emotional displays in everyone, but I want to warn you not to be careless." Caeid's face was stern. "The concealment of identities creates mystery, an aura of romance, but you know nothing about this woman and we're not sure if her standing makes her worthy of you." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm not concerned about you not having honorable intentions; I worry about her's."

Immediately, Finn knew his father was imagining a merchant's daughter showing up at the castle door nine months later, demanding the prince to acknowledge the child or to hold it as blackmail over the royal family. It wouldn't be the first time such scandals resulted out of a _Féile Óir._ It was true the masks sparked passion between young lovers, but the prince had bigger things to worry about. 

Answering honestly, Finn said, "I enjoy her company, Father, but I beg you not to worry for me. Our interactions have merely been conversation, nothing more."

"That is exactly why I'm worried," the king replied. "She intrigues you and I hate to see my son have his heart broken by someone that doesn't deserve him."

He sounded like he was speaking from experience. Finn heard stories of Caeid's youth, a handsome young man with the grandest inheritance waiting for him. No doubt many women flaunted themselves in front of him in hope for personal gain rather than love. 

A lyre began a slow tune outside, causing Finn to remember why he wanted to go outside. He turned to his father and bowed. "I'll be back soon," he said. "Just want to take a walk."

If it were possible, the encampment was even more melancholy than before. Even as they did their chores, the servants and campers weren’t stopping to chat to one another like they usually did. The sense of fear carried like the bitter cold winter wind, a shame, considering how nice the summer had been.

Not seeking anyone in particular, Finn wandered around, looking at the wares of merchants again (and stopping to appreciate the beautiful crossbow) while keeping his ears open for gossip. 

It was most of the same again and it sounded like there were still no real leads. He approached the tent where the bodies were kept on the outskirts of the camp and approached one of the embalmers sitting outside on a break.

Upon glancing at Finn, the embalmer stood up, probably realizing by the quality of his clothes that he was someone important – or at least, someone of wealth. “Can I be of some assistance, sir?” he asked.

“The slashes on the singer’s neck,” Finn began. “Were they the same as the ones on the men? Three slashes?”

The embalmer didn’t respond, but he held his hand out expectantly. Figuring what he wanted, Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin, placing it in the embalmer’s hand. 

“Thank you,” the man replied as he slipped the coin into his own pocket. “Yes, three slash marks. Clean cuts. Looks more like from a weapon.”

“Not an animal then?” The prince was hoping this would confirm his suspicion.

The man shrugged. “Never seen an animal attack do something like this. Too clean; too uniform. Besides, in a camp this large, someone was bound to have seen a forest lion or whatever they’re talking about, even if half of them were lost to drink.”

As he walked back into the tent, leaving the prince alone, he gave Finn much to think about. For the first time, someone was speaking with sense, and he was right, no one had spotted a beast roaming around the camp last night. 

His thoughts were interrupted however, when his sister showed up.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “You scared us all half to death last night!”

The prince grimaced, realizing that he didn’t see his mother or Jannah yet that morning. When they saw him last, it was as he was leaving with his lady lioness and they didn’t know his whereabouts when the body of the singer was discovered.

“Sorry,” he said. “It was a hectic night.”

“I’ll say. You better tell me what all happened after you left.” Then her voice dropped to a whisper, “Did you learn her name?”

“No,” Finn felt his spirits dampen again. He began his way through the campsite again, looking around and only half-paying attention to Jannah as his mind was otherwise occupied. 

Jannah snorted suddenly. “So you go off on a moonlight tryst with your beloved lioness and you didn’t even learn her name?”

“It was hardly a _tryst,”_ Finn deadpanned as he stopped in front of a makeshift stable for horses and watched as his sister smiled at a gray mare and went over to admire her. “You and that horse are getting closer than the two of us did. I still don’t know anything about her.”

Turning away from her new friend, Jannah rolled her eyes. “I would have hoped our family taught you better than that!”

“What? In romancing women?” Finn half-laughed, imagining the kind of advice his father would have given him. 

“Maybe we should hire Poe to give you lessons in being charm- Do you hear something?” 

They stopped talking and listened to the sounds in the stable around them. At first, Finn only heard the rustling of horses munching on hay, but then, as he listened more carefully, he heard the unmistakable harsh noise of sobbing.

The siblings looked at each other, communicating silently, before they started to search around them for where the sound was coming from.

Looking into a space for another horse towards the end of the row, they found a woman crying into her hand while blindly patting the neck of a bay gelding eating his breakfast quietly, her smooth black hair unstyled and curtaining her face. She was still in her sleeping gown, which was hardly proper to walk around with.

Finn let Jannah enter the space first, not wanting to startle the woman or make her feel uncomfortable. His sister cleared her throat to get her attention.

“Are you all right?”

The woman gasped and tried to compose herself. She started to shake. “I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn’t mean to trespass.”

Jannah shook her head. “This isn’t our stable either. My brother and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. You’re not hurt or anything, right?”

Rubbing her hand across her face, the woman looked up at the siblings, her brown eyes tinted red and the skin along them puffy. “No, I’m n-not hurt.” She sniffled again.

Moving closer, Jannah placed her hand gently on the woman’s shoulder. Watching them, Finn hesitated in the aisle, wondering if he should give them privacy or not. She might not want a man seeing her state of dress.

“What’s your name?” Jannah asked.

“Rose,” the woman answered.

Removing a handkerchief from her pocket, Jannah offered it to Rose to dab her face with it. “I hate to see others cry,” she said. “My name is Jannah, and over there is my brother Finn.”

It took Rose a moment to register their names, but when she finally did, she startled and stood up. “Your H-highnesses,” she made a shaky curtsy. “Please e-excuse my behavior. I did not know who you were.”

Waving it off, Jannah smiled. “None taken. We’re more concerned about you than formalities.” She looked at her brother pointedly for not saying anything.

Finn couldn’t help it. His gaze fell on the pendant around Rose’s neck and he tried to recall where he saw it before. It was an usual shape, curving in one direction with decorative etchings unfamiliar to him.

Then, he figured it out. “I’m sorry if my silence was rude,” he tried. “I just couldn’t help but notice your necklace. Rose, I think you and I danced together on that first night.”

She stared at his face, squinting her eyes like she was trying to imagine him in different masks. “Were you the one in the ram mask?” she asked.

He looked down at the ground sheepishly. “I think I should be the one doing the apologizing,” he admitted, “for being such a poor dance partner.”

“You looked like you were doing just fine with the woman in the lion mask,” Rose observed.

Chuckling, he added, “I think it’s all her doing.”

Glancing at him with meaning, Jannah’s eyebrows raised before she looked back at Rose. “There, that’s better,” she said cheerfully now that the other woman wasn’t crying. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Just had a bad night.”

“Understandable,” Jannah agreed sympathetically. “Did you know any of the victims or-?”

Rose shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I just…” She suddenly took on a distant look on her face, like she was thinking about something particularly horrible, then tried to cover her eyes with the handkerchief. 

Knowing fear when he saw it, Finn drew closer. This wasn’t just typical fright and anxiety caused by all the activity, this was terror, like the way a deer stood frozen as she stood in the range of a predator’s teeth.

“You saw something, didn’t you?” he breathed.

Nodding, Rose sobbed again. Horrified, Jannah gasped.

Feeling terrible about what he was about to ask, Finn braced himself. “Can you tell us? Please, if it’s something that can stop this…” 

He wondered if something could prevent her from speaking about it, the way his lady lioness implied the night before. A threat to her life or her family, perhaps. It made him nervous about asking.

“I had a h-headache last night and went back to my f-family’s tent early,” she began while crying. “Then I s-saw…”

The siblings waited patiently, wanting to hear her story but not wanting to force her along. Rose sniffled again.

“I s-saw the singer talking to a-a man. I d-don’t know what they were t-talking about, b-but he held his hand out and she got closer.” She didn’t continue and shook her head like she was trying to forget everything. They didn’t need her to elaborate further, everyone knew what happened next.

Jannah rubbed her back. “You’re safe,” she told her. “It’s just us here.”

“Did you get a look at the man’s face?” Finn asked and grimaced when his sister shot a glare at him. “I’m sorry, but it’s kind of important that we know.”

“I s-screamed when I saw her fall,” Rose admitted, and Finn realized that must have been her voice that he and the mysterious woman had heard. “He t-turned around to look at me.”

Anxiety flared in Finn. It wasn’t good that the killer got a look at Rose; it might even put her in danger.

“He was wearing a mask,” she said, and Finn’s hopes fell again. “I could not see his face.”

“What did the mask look like?” Jannah asked. “What did he wear?”

“L-like a dead bird.” Rose shuddered at the thought. “A skeleton mask with a beak. His clothes were black, and he w-wore a black cloak. Gray f-feathers lined his doublet.”

Thinking back to the last couple of nights, Finn tried to think if he could recall anyone wearing something like this, certain something that unsettling would be memorable. He didn’t think of anyone with clothes purely black unless they were in mourning, not in heat like this time of year.

Finn pressed on. “Did you see where he ran off to?”

Rose pursed her lips. “No,” she responded apologetically. “When everyone came running, I looked back, and he was gone.”

“Thank you, Rose,” Finn said. “And I don’t want to scare you, but I think it’s for the best that you always stay with someone, especially after dark.” Not that safety in numbers helped the hunting party, but he was hoping the idea would bring some comfort to Rose.

“I’ll walk you back to your family, or wherever you need to go,” Jannah offered, holding out her hand to help Rose up. “You can always find me if you need someone to walk with you.”

“Thank you,” the other woman said and tried to hand back Jannah’s handkerchief, but she shook her head.

“You can give it back to me tonight at the festival,” she said. “Sit by us. You know what my brother looks like.” Jannah rubbed Rose’s shoulder again, and the pair began to walk out of the stable, stopping to glance back at Finn. “See you later?” she asked.

“Yeah, gonna go find Poe.”

He turned in the opposite direction of them, knowing that Poe was probably still around the area reserved for the royals. Thinking about what Rose said, Finn tried to piece together everything. It wasn’t anything new, but the killer had to have been in the hunting party or followed them there, meaning he was probably from one of the upper classes. And whatever the weapon he used was, the killer was human and certainly not an animal.

Just as he thought, Poe was tending to Beebee like he did every morning, probably planning to get the dog some exercise too.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” he greeted, though not as cheerfully as he usually did.

Finn cut straight to the chase. “I met someone that witnessed the murder last night.”

Shocked, Poe suddenly stopped patting Beebee, and the hound whined to gain back his attention. “Seriously?” he gasped. “Do they know who did it?”

“No, but she got a look at him. It wasn’t an animal, it was a man.”

“What did he look like?”

Repeating what Rose told him earlier, he described the man in black clothes and a skeletal mask. Poe scratched at his stubble as he listened, frowning when the prince finished.

“Never heard of anything like that,” he said. “But it sounds like the costume was selected deliberately. Wonder if Takodana has any death cults…”

The suggestion reminded Finn of the magic he sensed around the dead men. A ritual sacrifice would make sense considering the uniformity of the slash marks, but in the middle of a crowded festival…?

“Would a cult send someone to do a ritual on their own?” he asked.

Poe shrugged. “Do I look like an expert in the occult?”

Well, it was something to think about, at least. The costume suggested there was something more to the deaths than what most people assumed.

“Could you ask around about any cults that might be in the area?” Finn requested. “Better we know as much as we can than nothing at all.”

“Don’t see the harm in that,” Poe agreed. “I’ll see what I can do. The noblemen are arriving today to plan the hunt for the mountain lion. Some of them might have some information.”

Frowning, Finn replied, “But if the killer is a man…?”

“It’s hard to convince a group of nobles to call the hunt off once you get them set on one,” Poe added quietly.

The wind rustled the trees around them and Finn looked out to the forest with a sigh. He was hoping he could put a stop to the hunt for the forest lion if he could prove it wasn’t the killer, but it seemed like that would not happen. The prince wasn’t sure why he cared about an animal this much, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it.

He wondered if he could go back to the spot where the men were found on their own and concentrate his magic there, or maybe ask the spirits of the forest for guidance. The problem was getting there without an escort and he wasn’t sure if Poe would let him go alone when there might be a murderer lurking around.

Mind made up, Finn resorted to doing something he hated to do to a friend.

“I’m going to see if Jannah heard anymore from Rose,” he lied. 

“Right.” Poe nodded. “I’ll tell you what I can find later.”

Wandering towards the noblemen’s camp, Finn hoped he could sneak outside the gates without fuss. The forest was calling him, and he wanted answers if he could get them.

* * *

Leaning back against a large, smooth stone, Finn relaxed in the cool of the stream, temporarily relieving him of the summer heat. His clothes draped over a low-hanging branch of a nearby tree, safe from dirt and water.

Tilting his head back, he stared at the clear blue sky above him. It was a shame the festival was surrounded by such a dire circumstance, the weather was perfect.

Despite the calm of the water surrounding him, Finn didn’t strip down just to bathe and cool off. Water had a certain natural magic to it, making it a great element to channel for a beginner or someone needed quick access to extra power. He hoped that power could help him again, like it did with healing the doe.

“Spirits of the forest,” he prayed softly, “if it is your will, lend me your wisdom so I can see the truth.”

Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine the death of the singer and the man who killed her. Hoping the magic of the forest would help him see it more clearly, he waited, but only saw the darkness of his eyelids.

Disappointed, he kept trying, urging the magic of the water to aid him. “If it is your will, lend me your wisdom so I can hear the truth.”

Nothing. Only the rustle of the leaves in the wind.

Now he was just growing frustrated. Either he wasn’t asking for the right help or the forest was denying aid. He pondered this for a moment, wondering where he was going wrong.

Leaning on his side, Finn took a moment to think about something else and come back to this. He stared up at the sky again, and the warmth of the sun made him think of the gold paint on the lion mask his mysterious dance partner wore.

_“My name is whispered by the trees of the forest.”_

Perhaps he wasn’t asking the right questions.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “Spirits of the forest, if it is your will, lend me your wisdom to hear the truth.”

He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him. The light current of the stream trickling over stones. Birdsong. The rattling of leaves in the breeze.

The prince focused his effort on listening to the wind, hearing nothing for a long time except the gentle warm gusts.

Then, if he listened carefully, he could hear something carry on the breeze.

_Re-_

_Rey-_

His concentration broke when overhead, a drawling, rasping hiss echoed in his ear. Snapping open his eyes, he saw the dark figure of a bird flying above him, its talons outstretched as it descended upon him, aimed to strike.

Standing up, Finn felt vulnerable without clothing to add extra protection to his exposed flesh. Lunging for his sword left where he could grab it, he held it positioned to stab at the bird if it got too close.

The smell of rotted flesh invaded his nostrils, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. It came from the bird, but the scent was too overwhelming to be from a mortal creature. Finn realized this creature was surrounded with the presence of dark magic and he targeted the prince specifically. For what though, Finn was not sure.

He swiped his sword at the bird when it came into range, causing it to descend at an angle to avoid the blade. It didn’t land, but it turned in mid-air, gazing at Finn with a dead-eyed glare that unsettled him. The bird’s head was unfeathered, bald with pale, wrinkled skin, looking almost like death itself, if death had a physical form.

With a strong swoop of its body, the bird posed to strike again and Finn had to dodge to keep away from its talons, the water around his legs making his movements feel heavy. He needed to get back to land if he wanted to be quick. Thinking he could take shelter in the trees and lose the bird, he looked ahead to map out his path.

Finn didn’t see the bird descend again until it was almost on him. Quickly, he dropped to the ground to get out of the way, hoping he could get down low enough for the creature to miss.

A loud cat-like roar startled him and he looked up in a split-second to see the large body of a golden beast jump over him, grabbing the bird by a leg with its fangs. The bird shrieked and used its other leg to scratch at the forest lion’s face, forcing it to let go.

Terrified, Finn stood up with his sword pointed in front of him, trying to move quietly away from the beasts. He watched the forest lion lower its body to the ground, ears pinned back, ready to pounce upon the black bird. It hissed at it, a warning to the airborne creature. 

The bird – Finn found it in his memory that it was called a vulture - made its own hiss at the forest lion before it decided that fighting it or continuing to pursue the prince wasn’t worth it. It glared at Finn before turning back to the sky.

After taking a moment to watch the vulture to make sure it would not return, the forest lion turned its attention to Finn. He noted a strange line of cream fur stretching in a neat line across its forehead, branching downward in the center to cross into a diamond shape. In the gaze of those golden eyes, the prince felt fear creep in him and waited to see what the beast would do.

It sat up on its paws and looked the prince up and down, eyes slitting calmly and with no threat in its attitude. Finn dared not to move as the lion regarded him, then braced himself when it stood up again. Studying the human in front of it one more time, the beast calmly twitched its tail, almost in a playful manner.

Taking no more interest in the prince, the forest lion leaned forward on its front paws to stretch, flexing its massive paws. Its pearlescent claws only reminded Finn of the danger he was in. Then with a yawn, it slunk away into the brush and vanished before his eyes. Backing away, Finn slowly made his way to his clothes, keeping his eye out for the vulture and the lion.

As he quickly redressed, not caring that his skin was still damp, the prince wondered why the lion acted like it was protecting him from the vulture. He had never heard of a wild carnivore behaving calmly when a creature such as a human was in its territory, recalling tales of men encountering forest lions and barely escaping with their lives.

Heart still racing, Finn rushed back to the campgrounds, hoping to see neither animal again.

* * *

Though he returned to his tent shaken, Finn dared not tell anyone about his encounter with the forest lion, especially because it left him alone. His intentions of going to the forest may have been good, but he was careless to think it was safe. In the end, he only got a sliver of a whisper on the wind for a name of a stranger, hardly anywhere near important the identity of the murderer.

He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to go to the feast tonight. Learning the woman’s name wasn’t something he was interested if it put him in danger, and by her fear of the killer, he was not sure if she would ever be honest with him.

If he didn’t want to rouse his family’s suspicions though, he had to go. Luck was on his side when he returned from the forest to find that Poe had not returned and Jannah had gone to ride her horse out while their parents were off at the cattle judging. Today’s festival event took place during the day, with the winning bull announced at the feast. It was a great honor to win the event, for the opportunity was open to all cattle breeders of any class and the winning bull would be added into the Royal Family of Takodana’s herd for the year. 

When his parents returned later, they mainly kept to themselves and discussed which bull they thought was deserving of winning. Content that he didn’t need to speak with them, he opted to lie down for a nap, hoping sleep would do him some good. Exhausted, he slept fitfully but without nightmares. 

Poe had not returned by the time he needed to get ready and so he enlisted the help of a valet that didn’t have a lot to attend to at that moment. He almost dreaded what the night would bring, and he worried his anxiety would show and rouse suspicion.

Like the nights before, his lady lioness was not at the feast. Finn wondered if she would show up again after last night’s incident, considering how scared she acted. He looked around his table and watched his sister and Rose interact, both acting like old friends. Across from them, Rose’s sister (Finn still didn’t know her name) eyed the pair curiously and Finn wondered if Rose’s sudden interest in socializing had anything to do with it. They spoke of horses, of their preferred breeds, and it seemed they had a lot more in common than Finn expected.

Arriving late, Poe joined the prince at the table and apologized for his tardiness.

“Did you learn anything?” Finn asked urgently.

Helping himself to some pheasant, Poe replied quietly, “There are a few cults in the area, but no one could match a description to the murderer’s costume.”

Sighing, Finn took a sip of his wine, feeling no closer to solving this than yesterday. 

“I’m going to ask around during the dancing,” Poe added. “A little wine loosens the tongue, if you know what I mean.” Under his stag mask, he winked at the prince.

Feeling his spirits heighten slightly, Finn tried his best to enjoy himself.

As the sun began to set and the dancing began, he grew fidgety and kept searching for the woman in the lion mask. His sister noticed and patted his thigh soothingly.

“Relax,” she said. “You’re not going to miss her.”

Jannah was right. Not even five minutes later, he spotted her waiting outside the open tent, watching the dancers until the song was at its end. Their eyes met across the room and they both moved along the benches to meet one another.

“You came back,” Finn sighed.

“You haven’t guessed my name yet,” the woman answered as she offered her hand to him.

He led her to the dance floor again, this time ignoring the stares the guests were giving them. As they waited for the music to start, he noticed Poe was pouring a guest a drink and making small talk, probably warming up for the real questioning. It made him think of the night before and the woman’s sudden departure after they found the singer’s body.

Would there be another victim tonight?

“Was everything fine after we parted ways?” he asked her, wondering if small talk could reveal more about her connection to the killer.

In time with the music, she moved one leg out to her side and leaned, still touching Finn’s palm. “There is no need to be concerned for me.”

“You seemed to be afraid of something,” the prince pointed out. “I would hate to see you hurt. I kept thinking about you last night, hoping you were safe.”

They locked eyes again, the woman’s eyes wide before she calmed herself. “Such a kind prince,” she mused. “Though I will admit, I almost forgot how nice it is for someone to think about you.”

With her close, he closed his eyes when he didn’t need to watch where he was going and reached out to sense with his magic. “What about your family?” 

Their conversation stopped as they backed up to stand in a line, a gap between them and waited as each pair walked down the row and joined again. Being the last ones in line, they waited the longest, but when they ran down the rows of guests in their colorful costumes with their hands linked, Finn felt a smile on his face.

As they started the routine again, the woman continued where they left off. “My family is no longer of this world,” she admitted. Opening himself up to his senses once more, Finn smelled the forest pine on her along with the subtle must of mold. “I live alone, though I am surrounded by many friends.”

The prince felt pity for her. “I’m sorry to hear that. Even with friends, it must get lonely.”

“It does. I lost my parents a long time ago, but not a day goes by when I don’t think of them,” she said this wistfully.

The dance repeated the routine once more and when it ended, the guests on the benches politely clapped as always. Finn walked the woman back to the sideline and waited to see what she would say. Close to them, Jannah watched the exchange with interest.

“Would you like to take a guess?” his lady lioness asked.

He took a deep breath, feeling nervous again. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you privately again; somewhere a little quieter.”

Understanding what he meant, she nodded and began to walk away from the tent.

“Finn,” Jannah called out.

Turning to her, he responded, “I won’t be far, promise. It’ll be quick and I’ll be back in a few dances.”

Following the woman out, she led him behind a nearby tent left vacant for the night. They could hear the music in the background, but it wasn’t so loud their voices would be drowned out.

“I went to the forest today,” he told her.

She stood still. “Did you now?”

“I asked the forest to tell me your name, but I want you to answer me something first. You can consider it my question for tonight.”

Thinking the offer through, she nodded. “Go on.”

“Does guessing your name have anything to do with you not being able to speak it yourself? A curse, perhaps?” He sensed magic around her and mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier. She smelled like the earth magic of the forest with darkness lying underneath. Finn had never encountered a cursed individual before, but he read about them. There were always signs, but none visible to the eye. Only someone with magic themselves could identify such a person. 

Pausing, his lady lioness stared at him unblinking. “The forest speaks of many things,” she replied.

Her response seemed to confirm his suspicions. “You can’t speak of it either, huh?”

Saying nothing, his lady lioness hung her head sadly. He noticed for the first time, weaved into her unusual style of hair buns sat a glimmer of silver that hid behind the mask. It looked like jewelry or hair decorations, but he couldn’t tell for sure.

“Would you like to guess my name now?” she asked in a defeated voice.

He thought back to the whisper of the wind, and though he didn’t think he heard it entirely, he tried, “Rey?”

She inhaled loudly and slowly raised her head to look at him. For the first time he could recall, her eyes seemed to sparkle. 

“I haven’t heard that in a long time,” she commented. “It isn’t my full name, but my parents called me that.”

Pride welled in his heart to see her happy and to know he was getting close to knowing her identity.

“You can call me that too,” she told him. “Until you guess my real name. Only the elderly might remember it – that’s my hint for tonight.”

Taking her hand in his, he raised it to his lips. Her skin felt warm against them. “I won’t give up, _Rey.”_ It was a simple name, but he reveled in the feeling of having something proper to finally call her by.

There was a smile in her voice. “I know you won’t.”

Their happiness was cut away when the world around them suddenly fell dark and the scent of rot overtook Finn’s nostrils. Nervously, the pair looked around him, Rey standing tall next to him.

Suddenly, something pricked the back of Finn’s neck, or at least, it felt like something did. Reaching to touch the skin, he found nothing there nor blood drawn.

Staring at him as he suddenly began to feel weak and sway on his feet, Rey gasped. “Finn, don’t let it drain you. Try to fight back!”

He tried to concentrate with his magic, really he did, but the campground began to flip upside down in his vision and his sight became spotty. Falling on his knees, the prince felt like he couldn’t stay awake any longer.

“Away with you, demon!” Rey shouted, but Finn could not see who she was addressing. “This is my domain, and everything within it is under my rule. You might think you are a king, but I know what you are.”

As his vision failed him and he felt himself drown in darkness, Finn saw one last flash of bright light before he fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!
> 
> See you next week!


	4. Night of the Owl God

His body felt heavy, like he was submerged in water; falling deeper and deeper into the depths below. Trying to open his eyes, the prince found himself too exhausted to try. 

Muffled noise surrounded him. Panicked, frightened cries. Someone sobbing.

_“Finn!”_

It’s was Rey’s voice, and she was crying. He loved the sound of her calling him by his name, but he hated to think he made her so upset. 

He tried to call out to her, but his voice wouldn’t carry.

A raspy cry echoed in his ears.

Struggling to get up, Finn found he was no longer falling, but standing on solid ground. Finally, his eyes fluttered open, but his sight found nothing but darkness all around.

“Rey?” he tried to shout, only to find sound wasn’t coming out of his mouth.

The rasping voice chuckled, sounding closer than before.

Turning around, the statue of the bird he discovered in the forest appeared. The ungazing, blank eyes to the side of a skeletal beak unsettled him as he approached it. 

His vision blurred and refocused. The statue was no longer stone, but a man, flesh and blood, sitting just as still. Cloaked all in black, the man’s face was hidden under a mask resembling a bird’s skull, metallic grills layering around the eyes.

Stepping down from the pedestal, the skeletal man stared at the prince. Unable to see his eyes or expression, Finn couldn’t guess what his intentions were and tried to keep space between them. The man towered over him, his movements large and threatening.

Hand held out, Finn noted the man’s gloves and saw long, sharp rings of armor cover his fingers. Resembling knives, each finger glinted dangerously, like a warning.

“The goddess is foolish to think she has power over me,” the man said in a deep, cold voice. He pointed a finger at the prince. “But not as foolish as you, to think you can stop me.”

_“Finn!”_

The skeletal man chuckled as he held his hand up to the prince’s neck. Finding himself unable to move, Finn was helpless to fight back.

_“Wake up!”_

Snapping his eyes open, the prince woke groggily and would have wanted to sleep more if he wasn’t so terrified. The lack of light from the gap between the tent and the ground meant it was still night – or maybe very early in the morning. 

“Finn?”

Turning around to face the other side of his cot, he found his mother sitting quietly across the space, staring at him with urgency.

“How are you feeling?” The queen stood up and hovered over him, placing her hand gently over his forehead, as if she was checking for a fever.

He groaned. “Like I slept on rocks. What happened?” 

“Sounds like you had too much to drink, if your lioness is telling the truth.”

Well, Rey certainly lied, but he’d rather not say what really happened, not that he understood it himself.

“Is she still here?” he asked.

Queen Isana smiled and stroked his hair. “She left hours ago. It’s early in the morning.” For the first time, Finn noticed the shallow wrinkles around his mother’s eyes and wondered when those first appeared. “She said you were staggering when you two went off to talk, then you fell and passed out. She called for help and we brought you back here to rest.”

As much as he hated to admit it, he was grateful Rey was a good liar. He had some wine at the feast, but not enough to render him unconscious. With all the activity around him though, no one would have paid attention to his amount of consumption. It wasn’t unusual for someone to lose track of how much they drank.

“Glad she was there,” Finn went along with the lie. “I’ll have to thank her later.”

“Well, hopefully she doesn’t think you a drunkard.” Isana winked. “I know your father had concerns about her, but I think her intentions towards you are sincere. She did not want to leave before you woke, but she worried about how late it was getting.”

“Did she remove the mask?” Finn asked with a sliver of optimism.

The queen shook her head. “No, she kept it on the entire time. I suppose you don’t have her name yet either?”

“She goes by Rey,” he said. “But that’s all I know.”

His mother hummed. “I don’t think I know of a woman that goes by that, but if it’s a nickname, her full name could be anything.” 

That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, exactly, but at least his mother was humoring him. A nickname was as good a start as any.

“Are you and father still discussing leaving the festival early?” he asked.

Isana smiled knowingly. “We know you have high hopes over this woman, and with the night passing without incident – well, besides your mishap – we’d like to think the danger is over and the murderer has left or wishes to not draw attention to himself. For your sake, we will stay at least until you learn who she is.”

Relief flooded him. “Thank you.”

Running her hand through his hair one more time, his mother leaned over to kiss his forehead. “It’s early,” she said. “You should sleep some more.” Her smile became teasing. “I’ll have someone put a remedy out for you in the morning. You’ll be needing it, I’m sure.”

He couldn’t hide his grimace as he imagined the horror of drinking that horrendous hangover concoction for the sake of hiding what really happened. He’d rather drink dirty bog water. At least this allowed him to stall for a little longer to learn the identity of the murderer and Rey.

When the flap closed and his mother was no longer with him, Finn lay on his back and stared up at the top of the tent, thinking about the mysterious woman who was quickly stealing her way into his heart. He realized this when he heard her call his name, and all the pain and hope it carried with it.

Recalling when he saw that flash of light come from her, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Never in his life had he seen such power, yet it rested within the woman he danced with for three nights. She was cursed and denied her own name, yet still fought evil as it threatened to harm him. 

The darkness of the dream and the vulture-like man terrified him, reminding him of his encounter with the bird and his unlikely rescue by the forest lion. He could still feel the razor-sharp blades of the man’s fingers scraping against his neck. Gasping, Finn touched his fingers to his skin, recognizing the pressure of his three fingers to be similar to the injuries inflicted upon the victims. Rose recalled the murderer as a man in a skeletal bird mask, just as the man in the dream was wearing.

What was the significance of the dark bird? For what did it represent? Death, or something more? There were statues dedicated to it, meaning it was not a coincidence. A death cult, perhaps, as Poe suggested.

If it weren’t for how early it was, the prince might have leapt out of his cot and immediately sought out his friend. It was likely Poe was asleep and wouldn’t be too pleased to be woken up, even if he had gathered some good information at the feast.

Resigned to wait for dawn, Finn sighed and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

The hunters announced first thing that morning they would search the forest for the lion. It was agreed upon that the murderer was human, but just as Poe predicted, the noblemen weren’t going to let such an opportunity pass them by.

Speaking of which, as soon as it seemed like a reasonable time and he gulped down the horrendous hangover cure without vomiting, Finn found Poe speaking outside with the guards. He looked relieved to see the prince up and about.

“Your Highness,” he greeted. “I’m glad you’re up.”

“I’m sorry for scaring everyone,” said Finn. “I’ll watch how much I drink more carefully tonight.”

“Finn, I saw how much you drank last night. There’s no way you passed out on that little.”

It spoke to Poe’s character that he said nothing that contradicted Finn’s story. His friend was worried, but with everything going on, there was reason to try to cover up the truth.

“Did you find out anymore?” Finn asked, hushed. 

“No more than what I already got.”

“Nothing about vulture deities, I suppose?” 

With a sigh, Poe ran his hand through his hair. “Not specifically.” Ruffling through his pockets, he pulled out a small scrap of parchment with writing scrawled all over. He quickly scanned over it with a frown. “No, nothing about vultures – I wrote down what I could – just some cults fond of ravens.”

Frowning himself, Finn grounded his boot into the ground, feeling he was at a dead end. 

“Your Highness, can I ask exactly why getting involved in all of this is so important to you? I know you mean well,” Poe sounded like he was trying to defend himself and not rouse the prince’s rare displays of anger, “but is the danger you’re putting yourself in worth it?”

He wondered when someone would bring this up, though until the night before, he wouldn’t have had an answer. Figuring out a curse surrounded Rey gave him a glimpse into his own heart when he realized he wanted so badly to help almost a total stranger.

“I want to protect everyone,” he said, ashamed as he was to admit the real reason. Poe, his closest friend and confidant, however could see right through him.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with proving to your family about your magic’s worth, would it?”

Well, that was what he was hoping originally, before he caught wind of Rey’s problem. He began to believe the murderer and the one who cursed her was the same person, and perhaps if he figured out who, he could protect everyone and help her. Then maybe his parents would see how fantastic being gifted with magic was and agree the military was not the youngest prince’s place. An ideal ending for everyone, he believed, and maybe a little too naïve to have his heart set on.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “It is, isn’t it?”

“It was, at the start, at least,” Finn admitted.

“And now?”

Trying to know his own heart wasn’t an easy task. So much changed in the last few days. His mind kept jumping to Rey and how sad she sounded when he figured out she was cursed to not have use of her own name. 

“There’s more than I imagined, and it may be far beyond my power. I wish I can find someone who’s knowledgeable about local legends or symbolism.” It might not be exactly what he needed, but someone might know what the vulture at least symbolized on a cultural level and Finn could work from there.

Smiling, Poe nodded. “I can’t say I understand why you want to keep doing this, but I may know someone who can help.”

* * *

The tent Poe led him to was modest, made of canvas and on the edge of the area for the merchants and those of moderate wealth. He was advised not to wear anything that made him stand out or show off his royal status. People here were generally respectful, but not everyone would act morally if they saw a chance to line their pockets with gold and jewels. 

Holding the tent flap open for the prince, Poe waited until he was inside before he entered and cleared his throat.

“Professor Tekka?” 

An elderly man stood up from the back corner of the tent where he was busy reading a very large book. He smiled when he noticed who had come in.

“Back again, Sir Dameron?”

Poe bowed his head respectfully. “I don’t wish to bother you, sir, but I brought that friend I was telling you about. Finn, this is Professor Tekka, a scholar of lore.” 

Finn followed his friend’s lead and bowed his head slightly. The man stared at Finn and his eyes widened with recognition.

“Your Highness,” he said and bent his torso into a deeper bow. “If I'd known I would be entertaining royalty, I would have dressed nicer.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the prince replied with a small smile. “I didn’t want to bring attention to myself.”

Tekka moved cushions to sit around a low table, inviting his two guests to get comfortable. “What can I do for you, Your Highness?” he asked.

“Well,” Finn began. “I’ve been trying to find information on legends in the area.”

“Such as?”

“Any deities associated with vultures? Or what they might symbolize?”

The old man sat back and closed his eyes, thinking about the countless stories he no doubt had collected in his memory. He nodded his head and opened them again.

“I can’t recall any vulture gods, specifically,” he said. Feeling his hopes deflate again, Finn tried not to make any expression to give his emotions away. “But the birds do hold some symbolic significance, with death in particular.”

Poe made a grim face. Certainly, that was a connection with the vulture and the murderer, but it hardly said much about the man’s identity. A killer wearing the mask with a bird synonymous with death wasn’t exactly going to be a clue. 

“But that’s the obvious symbolism,” Tekka chuckled. “Maybe a little uncreative even. The more interesting interpretation is, in some cultures, vultures are the embodiment of greed.”

Now, there was something. A mask representing greed at a festival to honor a wealth god and the gods that bring prosperity. But why murder guests while wearing such symbolism? Was it a coincidence?

And what about the statue in the forest?

“There’s a destroyed shrine in the forest away from the one for the Goddess of Wild Things,” Finn told the scholar. “I found a statue of what looks like a vulture deity, but it looks more recent than the rest of the stonework there. Like it replaced another.”

Professor Tekka looked shocked. “I’ve never heard of that statue,” he said. “Though it’s been decades since I ventured into the woodlands. Interestingly, two shrines have stood there, but one was lost to fire and time. It was the original place of worship for the God of Wealth.”

A statue representing death and greed replacing a beloved god of wealth. Someone put it there on purpose and for a reason. 

He thought back to the fight between the forest lion and the vulture and found it too eerie and coincidental, like two gods were fighting. 

And a man in a vulture mask was killing guests and a woman in a lion mask used her magic to stop the darkness from descending upon Finn. There was a connection between them, as Rey hinted, but what? A feud between cults? Between magic users? 

“Thank you, Professor,” the prince replied. “This is more insight than we gathered before. I just have one more question to ask.” He took a deep breath, hoping to get what he needed to solve one piece of the puzzle. “Do you know the original name of the Goddess of Wild Things?”

Frowning, the elder shifted his eyes away. “I don’t recall,” he answered. “The goddess is not as old as the others, but written prose and accounts are very much recent. Her name may have never been recorded; it’s quite common for minor deities, unfortunately.”

If it wouldn’t be impolite, Finn might have excused himself to go outside the tent and shout out his frustration. Anxiety welled in his stomach, making him feel nauseated. Every time he perceived he was closer to getting answers, he was taken a step back.

Next to him, Poe gazed at him sympathetically, as if he was sensing the prince’s sudden change in mood. 

“Well,” the prince said, “it’s not what I was hoping for, but it makes sense.” He stood up, Poe and Tekka following him. “Thank you again, Professor. I hope we haven’t bothered you.”

“Of course not, Your Highness.” Tekka bowed again. “I’m sorry I was not able to give you the answers you were seeking.”

Poe shook his hand. “We appreciate the insight anyway,” he said. “His Highness has been searching far and wide for that information.”

They left the scholar’s tent, heading back to the royal campsite and discussing if there was anything else they wanted to do that day. Paying half-attention to Poe’s ideas of breakfast, Finn pondered what name he could offer up to Rey tonight.

* * *

“Dance with me, brother.”

The Night of the Owl God was well underway and the feast passed by like a blink of the eye. Lost in thought, Finn had yet to dance with anyone and Jannah was too caught up with visiting with Rose and her sister, whom they had learned earlier was named Paige.

He looked at her with disbelief under his mask. “You want me to step on your dress?” he asked. If it wasn’t someone’s feet, it was the floor-length fabric of his partners’ dresses. 

“Finn, in a few weeks, I’ll be married and we won’t get to see each other as often. I want to spend as much time with my brother as I can.” She held out her hand expectantly.

Standing up, the prince allowed Jannah to lead him out to the dance floor, glancing up at his parents and noting their smiles. He wondered if his parents were thinking the same about how much time they had left together as a family. Theron was often busy and with Jannah gone, Finn would be the last child living with them.

While he was happy for Jannah and her future, he knew he would miss her. For years, they were always partners in crime, running amuck in the halls of the castle and giving the sternest of governesses and nannies a run for their money. Jannah and Poe were perhaps the prince’s closest friends.

“You won’t go far tonight, will you?” Jannah asked, worry clear in her voice.

Blinking, Finn voiced, “Huh?”

“With your lioness,” she clarified. “What did you say her name was?”

“Rey.”

Jannah hummed. “It’s a nice name,” she judged. “Simple, but nice. Just promise me you won’t wander off with her tonight.”

It would be hard to speak with Rey without the fear of being overheard, but his sister sounded so concerned he didn’t have the heart to go against her request. “All right,” he agreed.

When the song ended, Jannah went back to sit by Rose. Watching them, Finn noticed how his sister’s smile seemed so genuine and jubilant. For the last few weeks of travel, she'd been quieter than usual, but Finn summed it up to pre-wedding jitters and homesickness. It was nice to see her laughing and enjoying herself again.

Rose brushed against Jannah’s hand, catching her attention and gazing into her eyes with a small, secretive smile. As Finn waited for Rey’s arrival, he observed the pair some more, not missing the light touches against thighs and fingers resting together shyly.

Maybe he shouldn’t be the one she should be worried about sneaking off.

He didn’t start seeking Rey out until sundown, now knowing her routine and that he shouldn’t expect her until then. Part of him wondered where she was before the dancing or why she waited so long to join the festivities. The other part of him didn’t want to know.

She appeared as she normally did, in the back of the tent where no one saw her come in. Watching the dancers before glancing around the room, Rey stared at Jannah and Rose for a brief moment before she walked towards Finn.

Greeting her by taking her hand, he leaned down to kiss it, allowing his lips to linger over her skin. “M'lady.”

“My lord,” she replied back.

Holding out his arm, he offered, as usual, “Will you dance with me?”

And as usual, she took it and allowed the prince to lead her to the floor.

The musicians in the tent's corner began a slow song next. That meant Finn and Rey would be close to one another the whole time. He never had wanted to personally thank a musician for the arrangement choice more before.

“How are you feeling?” Rey whispered.

“A little under the weather.”

Nodding, she sighed, “I thought you might. He drained your magic, though I expect you wouldn’t have noticed by the time you woke up.”

“He can do that?” Finn was shocked and frightened by this new discovery. “What about you? Did he hurt you?”

Puffing air out of her mouth, she responded, “He did not, but I drained the last of my magic to put protection around this festival. I don’t know how long it will hold.”

“You can just wait until you gain your strength back again, right?” The prince truly did not notice his magic was drained the night before and when he concentrated, he noted his power was already back to his usual ability. 

“That’s not how it works for me.”

They were quiet for the first cycle of the dance, trying to enjoy themselves. Finn took joy at being so close to Rey, not knowing why a stranger was such a comfort to him, but thankful for her all the same. She was warm against him, a marvelous contrast to the chill he felt while dreaming of the vulture man.

Smiling, he told her, “I’m getting closer to learning your name, but I don’t have it yet.”

Chuckling, Rey brushed her hand over his shoulder. “I know you’ll find it.” Pushing away slightly so she could look at him, her eyes twinkled. “Care to take a guess anyway?”

He ran through ideas in his head. “Rey-vin…ya?”

Her eye visibly twitched under her mask. “Did you just make that up?”

“Maybe?” he smiled nervously.

The laugh she made was almost musical. “Never change, Finn.”

For the next minute, they swayed gently with the music. There was something he wanted to ask her, but he worried how she would react. 

Finally, he took a deep breath and took a leap of faith. “You’re not human, are you?”

She waited until the music soften before she replied, “Not quite.” 

It was a little more personal than he would prefer, but at least it helped him understand her and why she was so informal with him when she knew who he was. Her standing was higher than his, technically, but he had no idea how to explain to his family that the object of his affections held a title higher than a king.

The more he got to know her, the more tragic her existence seemed to him. Finn would never assume his magic held a candle to her power and knowledge, but even only after a few days, he felt a desire to be by her side, a warmth in his heart when she entered his thoughts he wanted to share with her.

The dance ended too quickly for him and he found himself begging her to stay for one more dance. As the sun vanished into the sky and the dark spread across, he knew at any time Queen Maz would announce the ceremony for the Night of the Owl God, which was to read out of ancient scriptures. Rather boring to Finn’s tastes, but that was tradition.

Rey granted his request, sticking around for one more lively dance before she tugged at his hand to tell him she was leaving. He followed he out, noticing the stare his sister gave him as he left.

“I wish I could walk you back,” he told her. “But I promised my sister I wouldn’t go far tonight.”

“She worried about you,” Rey breathed. “We all were.” 

Finn allowed his hand to drift to the skin under her chin along her neck, wishing he could move the mask away from her face and see the woman under it. Leaning into his touch, he imagined Rey wished the same.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked her.

“Of course. But I want to ask you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

Her voice turned serious. “Don’t go out into the forest alone. My magic will protect you here for now.”

Nodding his head, he agreed. “Goodnight, Rey.”

“Goodnight, Finn.”

The overjoyed smile Jannah gave him when he returned to the tent made his short visit with Rey worth it. 

“You came back,” she whispered as he sat next to her.

He rubbed her hand playfully. “I promised you, didn’t I?”

Before they got the chance to talk more, the music faded and Queen Maz stood from her place, bringing the guests to quiet down.

“I know bringing our fun to the end is not the best way to end the night, but in the spirit of the Owl God, the time is to spread the ancient wisdom passed down through stories for generations.”

Then, she began to read out the stories of the great creation, where the Mother Goddess gave birth to the world and the first creatures were immortal until she and her husband the great Earth God realized everything’s time must come. Another attempt at humans was made and death came for them eventually, setting the life cycle of everything. 

The second story told that night was about the birth of the Owl God and how humans dreamed and believed him into existence as a creature to pass his ancient wisdom on to others. Some deities were direct descendants of the Mother Goddess and Earth God, but others were created by human belief and made immortal by their prayers.

Ancient texts were left out on stands, opened to illustrated pages for the guests to view on their way out. 

Finn was only planning to pay a passing glance to the books, when one illustration stopped him in his tracks. He stopped so suddenly that Poe ran into his back.

“Hey!”

But Finn paid his friend no mind as he got a closer look. The illustration depicted a woman with cascading brown hair, head lowered to the ground while crying in despair. An outline with softer streaks depicted a forest lion positioned similarly, implying transfiguration. Besides the woman and the lion, the God of Wealth, dressed in rustic finery and a gold cape, held his hands up in anger.

He scanned the writing, finding the language was one he was not familiar with and quickly turned to Poe.

“Can you get Professor Tekka here?” he requested. “I need to find someone to translate this, if he can.”

“If you visit me later tonight, I can read it to you.”

The two men turned around to see the petite figure of Queen Maz addressing them. They bowed quickly.

“Your Majesty,” Finn gasped. “That would be an honor.”

She glanced at the illustration before grinning at the prince. “Planning to woo your lioness by telling her stories of the Goddess of Wild Things?”

“Perhaps,” he didn’t want to give too much away.

“Can’t say that particular story is a happy one,” she commented with a frown. “But few people can read it now and it would be nice to pass it on to someone else.”

Poe bowed lowly again. “We’ll appreciate any wisdom you wish to bestow upon us.”

“Meet me at my lodgings in an hour,” she told them. “I’ll let my guards know I’m expecting you.”

Excitement lighting up Finn’s nerves, he felt like tonight it might go right.

* * *

_“While wandering through the forest, Kylo, the God of Wealth, encountered a young woman with impeccable hunting skills and as wild as the animals she tracked. Finding her to be unmatched in beauty and talent, he decided he wanted to take her for his wife.”_

Queen Maz read the story out loud to Finn and Poe as the three sat around a rounded table in the queen’s tent, quietly sipping a warm cocoa drink that was a favorite of Takodanans. 

_“Approaching the woman named Reyna, he offered her riches beyond mortal imagination in exchange for her hand. She considered this but hesitated to leave her father, a farmer, all alone and so, she rejected him._

_“The god had never been rejected before and he grew angry, believing the woman was foolish to turn his offer down. He approached her again the next day, promising her children would be heroes and kings, but again, she told him no._

_“Unable to control his rage, Kylo cursed her, forcing her to take the form of a forest lion by day, only to be a woman again under the night sky. Reyna went back to her father, hoping he would see through the curse to know she was his daughter, but she was chased away by him. She went back to the forest and vowed to watch over it and the animals that lived there, where she remains to do to this day.”_

The queen stopped speaking and glanced at the two young men apologetically. “I’m sorry it’s not a happier story, but many of these legends aren’t.”

“It’s rather short too,” Poe observed. 

Nodding in agreement, Maz replied, “The Goddess of Wild Things is a minor deity here. It’s a wonder anyone wrote anything about her. Some deities only get a sentence in some books.”

Feeling almost dreamlike, Finn ran the goddess’s name through his head over and over. _Reyna._ This is what he had been looking for all along. He wished he knew where Rey was to proclaim her name to her proudly.

If the story was true though, her immortality came about because of another god’s greed, inflicting pain upon her as punishment for something that was not wrong of her to do. He thought of the God of Wealth and recalled he took the form of a golden eagle, not a bird as dark and dull as a vulture. This was also the only story where Finn could recall the god being so spiteful. Normally, he was depicted as a generous god. 

“Your Majesty,” he spoke up. “Do you know of any vulture gods?”

“No,” she answered. “Should I?”

“We found the ruins of the old shrine in the forest for the God of Wealth. A new statue of a vulture was erected upon the site where everything else has been destroyed.” Finn hesitated with the next part, but he speculated the queen knew the most of what went on in her kingdom than anyone. “And an eyewitness of the singer’s murder described as a man wearing a vulture mask as the killer. We thought there might be a connection.”

Queen Maz hummed and leaned her chin against her clenched fist. “That is most interesting… I will put out the alert and send a message to the archives to search for mentions of such a thing.” 

She held her hands out to both Finn and Poe, asking them to place their own on top of them over the table. Squeezing lightly, she looked back and forth between the two.

“You have found more than my own men have, experts in their fields. I am grateful to both of you.” Then, she grew worried. “But if there is a connection, I worry we’re not dealing with just a man on a killing spree.”

Poe scrunched his nose. “Huh?”

The Queen looked upon him sadly as she let go of their hands. “It is not the first time the gods have walked among us.” She stood up and began to walk towards the tent flap before stopping to say farewell to the men. “It won’t be the last either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!
> 
> Notes for this chapter:
> 
> I imagine Queen Maz would be played by an elderly Lupita Nyong'o.


	5. Night of the Rabbit Goddess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some light nsfw content.

The Night of the Rabbit Goddess couldn’t come soon enough for Prince Finn as he eagerly awaited the start of the feast. His lioness’s name was at the forefront of his mind all day and he wanted nothing more than to finally give it to her. 

Jittery, he sat through the feast only half-listening to the conversations around him. Jannah and Rose were in a heated argument about whether their preferred horse breeds were better than the other, with Rose’s sister interjecting her own thoughts occasionally. Finn couldn't say he was particularly fond of a certain breed, all he was concerned about was if his steed was quiet and well-mannered. 

To his surprise, Rose’s sister all but dragged him on to the dance floor when the music started. They never danced together before and Finn figured it was because she saw how poor of a partner he made with Rose.

“Sorry if I startled you,” Paige apologized. He saw her frowning under her white and gold cat mask.

“I’ll admit, I was not prepared for someone to literally take me by the hand,” Finn joked.

They started walking around each other in figure eights, keeping in time with the rhythm. He felt like in the last week he had been improving and wasn’t stumbling over himself as much. That was something else he had Rey to thank for.

“Our sisters have grown close the last few days,” Paige hinted.

“Oh, so you do know who I am,” the prince replied. It wasn’t as if he was hiding his connection to Jannah, but he wasn’t sure how observant all the guests were when they were caught up in the celebrations. 

She chuckled. “No offense, Your Highness, but it wasn’t exactly hard to figure out.” 

“None taken.”

The turned a full circle in step and clapped along with the other guests before their conversation resumed.

“I worry about Rose,” Paige continued.

Finn’s full attention was on her. “Is something wrong?” While it was obvious her sister was still shaken over her encounter with the murderer, she hadn’t mentioned it since. 

“Well, not yet. You see, I’m a little concerned our sisters are becoming too close, if you understand what I mean.”

He nodded his understanding. The two were not exactly hiding their affection for one another.

“And does that not bother you?”

“I figure it’s not any of my business,” Finn replied honestly. “Does it bother you?”

Paige sighed. “Only that I worry Rose will have her heart broken. Your sister is to be married in a few weeks. Where will that leave Rose when she finds herself alone again?”

“I’m sure Jannah will do the right thing,” the prince tried to assure her. “But I’ll speak with her.”

“Thank you.”

They bowed politely to each other when the song ended and went back to their seats quietly, noticing the stares their sisters were giving them. He smiled at them warmly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Rey sitting diagonally across the space watching the dancers. Excusing himself, he maneuvered through the benches and sat next to her.

“I didn’t see you enter,” he said.

“You were dancing,” she said simply. “You don’t have to rush to greet me.”

He took her hand in his, noticing they were colder than usual. “I’m just afraid our time is limited each night.”

“Well then, let’s not waste time.” She stood up. “Will you dance with me, Your Highness?”

Without hesitation, he led her out. They entered the dance late, a waltz where the dancers stayed close to one another. Perfect for the occasion, Finn thought.

“I was hoping you’d let me guess your name early?” he urged.

“Confident, aren’t we?” Her voice was controlled, but the slight intonation implied excitement.

She rested her hand against his shoulder, his hand wrapped around her waist. “Goddess of Wild Things,” he breathed. “You are very hard to find.”

“Only if you don’t know where to look,” Rey teased. “Now tell me Prince Finn, what is my name?”

Taking a deep breath, Finn told her, “Your name is… _Reyna.”_

Her eyes shone a brilliant green, flecked with golden light, but almost as quickly as they lit up, fear filled them.

A chill ran down Finn's spine as the lit candles in the tent blew out all at once. Startled murmurs filled the air, and the musicians halted. In his arms, he felt Rey begin to shake.

“He’s coming,” she gasped.

Before he could speak, a guest fell to the ground, convulsing. Finn tried to get a look at the man, but it was no one he recognized. Around them, screams filled the air.

Rey tugged on his hand urgently. “We have to go,” she ordered.

Struggling, he tried to stop her from leading him away. “We can’t leave them.” He looked towards the dais where his parents were. Frantically searching the crowd, he could tell they were looking for their children. Finn hesitated to leave them like this. He didn't want to scare them.

“He already got his sacrifice tonight!” Rey shouted over the chaos. “They’ll be fine for now. You need to worry about yourself!”

Realizing he needed to trust her, Finn allowed her to take him away from the tent. Sprinting, they headed to the forest.

“Don’t let go of my hand!” she told him.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!”

As much as he wanted to ask where she was taking him, Finn focused on running while he avoided tripping over brush and natural debris in the dark forest. Grasping her hand tightly, his intuition told him something bad would happen if he let go. Nothing around him looked familiar, and in the dark, the forest was more dangerous and his sight was terrible without a source of light to help him see.

It amazed him how well Rey navigated in the dark, but perhaps he should expect such skill from a goddess. What else she knew about this forest was something he wished she would share with him one day.

Against a rocky ledge, Rey maneuvered him around bushes and fallen logs until she came to a large boulder resting against the cliff. “Here,” she told him. “In here.”

“Uh…” he almost pointed out the obvious problem of the solid round rock in front of them, but she pushed against his back a little too hard, causing him to nearly fall forward on his face…

…And straight through the boulder as if it were never there.

Taken aback by this sudden discovery, Prince Finn didn’t have time to recover from the fall and promptly fell to his knees. “Oomph.”

Rey followed in after him, placing her hand warmly on his back. “You all right?”

“Wasn’t expecting this,” he mumbled as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his trousers. “Whatever _this_ is.” It was too dark to see, but he could tell by the mouth-like opening he just came through that this was a cave.

Walking deeper inside, her step sure-footed like she had every inch memorized, Rey crouched down and moved her hands in front of her as if in prayer. “We’ll be safe here tonight,” she said. “This is where I live and the magic barrier around it will hold for sure.”

A flicker of light emitted out of her hands, followed by the smoky scent of fire magic that Finn had yet to master. That kind of magic was often unpredictable, unstable; the first time he tried to light a small flame in his hands, he almost lit his room on fire. It scared him so much that he never tried again. She held the small flame in her palm before setting it down on the ground. The fire spreading along a pile of wood, the prince realized she had a fireplace in the cave and the light of the flame finally made the inside visible.

A low growl to his left made him jump. Turning around, he found himself face to face with an angry forest lion. Ears pinned back, it hissed at the prince, forcing him to take a step back out of fear.

Angry, Rey turned around and glared at the lion, hissing back at him and shooing him away. “Sun, manners!” she growled at him. “He is a guest of mine. An honored friend.”

Shocked by how she commanded the forest lion, Finn watched as the giant feline sat up on his haunches and went silent, though his ears were still pinned back. He regarded Finn, though didn’t look happy about a human invading the space.

She sighed, shaking her head. “Away with you, silly creature. Go sleep in the stores tonight.”

The forest lion stood up, body low to the ground, as it crept quickly away to the back of the cave and disappeared into a tunnel that would take it deeper in. Rey turned to Finn apologetically.

“I’m sorry he scared you,” she said. “I forgot he was here.”

“Do you always keep forest lions for company?” he asked, trying to make light of the scare he just had. He thought it was a stupid question the moment it came out of his mouth. The Goddess of Wild Things was depicted as a lioness-woman, resembling the mask she wore now. Of course the forest lions were her friends.

Rey replied nonchalantly, “Not usually. I told him to hide out here while the hunters are in the area. Sun’s a loyal friend to me, but there aren’t a lot of forest lions left. He’s lonely for his own kind.” She chuckled. "When we first met, he hoped I could be his mate. He was horrified when he found out who I was. I think his loyalty is him trying to make up for disrespecting me back then."

“A lonesome forest-lion.” Finn found some humor in a ferocious beast acting like a house cat for Rey, but he pitied the creature. It was far too magnificent of an animal to be hunted like this, especially if there were few in the area.

Then he remembered the hunters were from the festival.

“I hoped the hunters would call it off once we were sure the killer wasn’t an animal,” he told her, crestfallen.

Moving closer to him, Rey pulled a blanket made of fur soft like a rabbit around both their shoulders and rested her head against him. “They’re humans,” she whispered. “They don’t give up on what they desire so easily.”

“You were human once,” he pointed out. When she turned her head to look closely at him, he stuttered. “I heard what happened to you. Why you’re a goddess.”

“And how do you think of me now?”

Tilting her chin, Finn gazed into her eyes as they peered at him sadly from behind the mask. The day before, he wondered if he should treat her differently now that he knew she was a literal goddess. He even thought Rey might behave more superior to remind him of her rank. Yet here they were, and very little had changed between them. “I think of you as Rey, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Shakily, she nodded and moved her hand under the blanket to find Finn’s. With her other hand, she gently touched the skin of his cheek, letting him lean into her hand. 

“You look handsome tonight,” she whispered.

He chuckled. “As opposed to the other nights when I wore the same thing?”

Rolling her eyes, she groaned. “You know what I mean.” Then, she let her hand drift behind his head where the ties for the mask sat securely in his hair. “Can I…?”

“Mine for yours?” He felt breathless as he asked her.

Moving her other hand to help her untie the mask, she removed it and sat it down on the ground next to her gently. He took that as her agreement. Allowing her a minute to gaze into his face, she ran her hand over his skin again and smiled sweetly.

Finn moved his own hand to the side of her lion mask. He paused, realizing for the past few days, he imagined this moment and wondered what he would find under the mask, but every time, his imagination either stopped as he unstrapped it from her face or just saw the face of the lioness statue at the shrine.

His fingers caught against the edged and tugged softly as he revealed the face of the woman that mystified him.

A human face was bare to him, youthful and soft, with freckles starring across the tanned skin of her cheeks and nose. Her gentle eyes shined with an air of ancient intelligence, but there was vulnerability lying under the surface. Resting on her forehead was a silver circlet, woven similar to Finn’s own and arched at an angle at the middle, where it crossed over into a complex knot design.

She was beautiful.

“What did you think you would see?” she asked him shyly.

He grinned sheepishly. “Honestly? I kept imagining I’d find the face of another lion mask.”

Her smile was wide and quiet; Finn felt his heart swell in his chest at the sight of it. Reaching out to her, he allowed his fingers to caress her skin, slowly pushing back a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

“You’re lovely,” he said.

“Not just because I’m a goddess?” 

The prince turned the question back to her. “Do you like me just because I’m a prince?”

Rey's laugh echoed through the cave as she leaned her head forward to rest her forehead against his. Streams of warm breath tickled his skin, and he looked into her eyes to watch the gold flecks of her irises flicker against the firelight. "You're kind, Finn. You care about others, even gods that you aren't sure exist. It's been a long time since I've met someone like you."

Neither knew who moved first or if they met each other in the middle, but as their lips brushed, they experienced a shocking current of warmth and pleasure cascade down their spines and set their nerves afire. Finn was certain he had never felt this good before.

Taking a deep breath seconds into the kiss, they broke apart and leaned their foreheads against each other again.

“That was nice,” Rey hummed. “Nicer than I imagined.”

Finn couldn’t help the grin spread across his face. “You imagined that before?”

Wrapping the blanket tighter around their shoulders, she nuzzled her nose into his shoulder and nodded. “The first time I saw you, at my shrine.”

Above the crackling fireplace, he noticed a bunch of hanging purple flowers with long stalks drying above it and recognized them as the wildflowers he offered to her statue. 

“Why does the vulture man hate you so?” Finn finally asked.

She mumbled into his neck. “You know my story.”

“I know about your curse and Ky-"

Hushing him, Rey leaned up to kiss him again. “Don’t say his name. It gives him power.”

“Is it the same for you?” Finn rubbed his hand along her arm, trying to be comforting.

“When names are spoken, it means someone believes in us. Remembers us. Prayers and offerings give us strength, but without belief, all gods will eventually fade from memory. When the last human forgets our name, when they mold us into something new and recreated, we fade away too.”

Turning his head slightly, the prince tried to read the expression of the goddess and found it steely, if maybe a little tired. “So gods can die,” he wondered.

“They can fade from existence. Or they can kill one another.”

For the next few minutes they were quiet, enjoying each other’s company and warmth as they touched every ounce of exposed skin they could find. The scent of the forest lingered on her skin. The moss, the bark of trees, the flowers, she carried them with her. Finn kissed at her neck, skin exposed by the neckline of her dress.

Finally, Rey spoke again. "The vulture god cursed me to be forgotten, though at the time he was what you know as the God of Fortune.”

“They’re the same?” It surprised Finn. “How?”

“He was once very beautiful and generous,” she explained. “A god with golden feathers as bright as the sun. Blessing those of good intention. He would even exchange wealth to the most desperate for fractions of their lifetime. A farmer begging to feed his family during a harsh winter would gladly exchange a year of his life for that.”

The prince shifted in his spot and took her hand in his. It sounded like this was difficult for her to talk about.

“But the more life he took, the more he desired it,” Rey continued. “And that desire turned to greed, corrupting him into a demon. When I met him, he was just in the starting phase of his corruption.”

“And that’s why he was so angry when you rejected him,” Finn guessed.

She frowned. “When I rejected him the second time, he hurt me. Violated me. Then cursed me three times. The first was to lose my humanity. He gave me immortality and forced me to take the form of a forest lion in daylight. The second curse was to lose everything I loved. When I returned to my father as a lion, he didn’t see me as a daughter but as a beast. He threw things at me. Rocks. Tools. Chased me away. I tried to throw myself from a cliff that day, only to find it was true and I could not die.

“I watched my father die of heartbreak. He lost my mother shortly after I was born, then he lost me. He wandered through the forest for weeks searching for me until one day, he didn’t emerge from our farmhouse at all.”

“And the third curse?” Finn felt tears sting his eyes, but he wanted to know everything. Maybe he could help her if he knew the full story.

“I would be doomed to fade from memory,” she finished. “He whispered my name to the world so they would know me as the Goddess of Wild Things, but as each generation was born, I was slowly forgotten as a minor deity. A few years ago, I felt the last of my power wane to almost nothing and thought my time was coming… Until you, Finn.”

He kissed her hair and gathered her into his arms, holding her tightly against him. “We can defeat the curses, I’m sure. I just need to know why the God of Wealth is murdering those worshiping him.”

“The God of Greed,” Rey corrected him. “And like all the old gods, he is being forgotten as he is, being recreated in the hearts of men into something new; something that will one day replace him. You may drink to his image and what he represents, but you don’t speak his name or make offerings to him anymore. So, he took those lives as a sacrifice to fuel his power. He drained you of your magic that night because it's so rare to find in mortals now. Life embedded in magic is like a special treat. He couldn't stop himself. Not that he would want to.”

This gave Finn much to think about and he mulled over it all for the next few minutes, continuing to touch Rey with loving hands. But though he was content sitting with her under the blanket, he couldn’t help but get a sense the vulture god had something else planned for the guests. A god ruled by his own greed could never be content with taking a few souls each year. 

Finn wondered what he was missing at tonight’s celebration, if it continued after the interruption by the dark deity. The Night of the Rabbit Goddess was supposed to be a favorite of the festival where couples of any class that were to be wedded could enter to be selected at random to be married during the royal festivities. Their clothes would be provided. They would feast that night with the guests. Queen Maz herself even provided private lodgings to serve as a wedding night suite.

Maybe the queen and his parents stopped the festivities to send out search parties for him. If so, he wondered how long it would be before they were interrupted by the calls of searchers.

“I hope we didn’t ruin the dreams of the brides and grooms-to-be tonight,” he mused.

Rey’s mouth twitched. “It’s not like they were doing the ritual right anyway,” she mumbled.

“Huh?” Finn blinked.

Halfway crawling into his lap, she looked him in the eye with a smirk on her face. “The proper way to worship the Rabbit Goddess, the Goddess of Fertility.”

“And what’s that?” he asked with a smile of his own.

She leaned to whisper in his ear. “Fuck like rabbits.”

Half-scandalized and half-amused, Finn felt his lips move to respond but only air came out. Seeing his reaction, Rey giggled and pulled him into another kiss, this time longer. She ran her tongue across his lips and the feeling of it made him break away from her.

“Did you not know?” she asked with feigned innocence.

“I’ve never heard of that,” he admitted, not that he was familiar with ancient rituals for any goddess, rabbit or otherwise.

Shaking her head, Rey retorted, “You humans are so tame nowadays. Replacing ritual sex with marriage ceremonies.” Then, she got a mischievous and smoldering look in her eyes. “Too bad that’s what your people do tonight. We could've had a nice opportunity to pay our respects to the goddess properly.”

He felt himself stir in his trousers and suddenly it seemed like the cave was too warm, but never one to like to let a good situation go to waste, the prince cleared his throat. “Are you saying I can worship two goddesses tonight? At once?”

It took her a moment to pick up on his meaning, but when she did, Rey nearly purred. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Standing up, she left Finn by the fire and walked towards a pile of cushions, blankets, and furs, creating a mismatched bed on the ground. Coyly, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Well?”

Mouth suddenly feeling dry, the prince swallowed and stood up, letting the blanket fall from his shoulders as he approached her. He leaned in to kiss her again, one hand tangling in her hair. Rey hummed, running her hand up and down his chest, and this time, when she ran her tongue across his lips, he gave her access to his open mouth.

Suddenly, it was much too hot in the cave.

The prince groaned as her tongue brushed his and felt her hands reaching down to unbutton his jacket, pulling it off and draping it over one arm as she tugged at his undershirt to tell him she wanted that off too.

Torso bare to her, Rey leaned away from him and draped his clothes over a branch she used to keep a selection of rope and weapons. She returned to him and coaxed him down into the cushions, kissing and nipping his neck as she sat on his thighs.

Finn reached around her back to tug at the ties of her dress, watching the fabric relax against her body as it sunk down to her shoulders. Sitting up, Rey pulled the dress over her, discarding it in a pile on the ground next to them before pressing her bare skin against his. He was memorized by her body. Her muscles. Her breasts as they gently heaved with her breaths. Not that he had another woman to compare to, but Rey was absolutely perfect in his eyes.

“May I do you worship?” he asked her.

She started to laugh, but her voice cut off into a drawn-out moan as the prince brushed his hands against her breasts, rubbing his fingers gently over her dusty pink nipples. The sound she made fascinated Finn as he ran his hands along her skin, reveling in the feel of her under his hands. 

"You may,” she finally replied when she caught her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes for this chapter:**
> 
> On Rey's curse -
> 
> Part of Rey's curses included that she couldn't say her own name. This meant that as time went on, people would forget it and she would be unable to stop it. Finn figuring it out just before she lost her power and faded away broke that curse, and now she is able to speak of it freely.
> 
> On LGBTQ+ relationships - 
> 
> This world is very much a traditionalist culture with some progressive elements. The nobility are not anti-LGBTQ exactly, but they forbid marriage between same-sex couples. This has to do with how inheritance works. The nobility want to keep their wealth within their families, but there always has to be a legitimate heir that's next in line to inherit it. If you are familiar with _Downton Abbey,_ you can imagine how this created a lot of drama when finding matches for eldest children, particularly women. I would expect it wouldn't be uncommon for families to try to marry cousins and pair widows of their children with other relations. 
> 
> For a lesbian couple such as Rose and Jannah, they really could only have a relationship via an affair, which comes with its own problems. It would be easier to be a LGBTQ+ couple in the lower classes when inheritance isn't such an issue. If I explored that part of this world more, there would probably be characters in same-sex relationships that raised children from prior marriages together, for example.


	6. Night of the Lion Goddess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly nsfw content in this chapter.

Lying in the pile of cushions and blankets, Finn never understood the term _afterglow_ until now. His muscles felt more relaxed than they had in months and for once, his anxiety was pushed out of the forefront of his mind.

Rey was warm against his side, resting her head under his chin and against his shoulder. He stroked the skin of her back, feeling her strong muscles and the raised lines of scars. Wondering how she got them, the question arose if deities could have lasting signs of physical harm or if these were made during her human life. 

An idea about how to deal with the demon god and her threatened existence popped into his head, but in order for him to put it into action, he needed to know more about her. The only story out there about the Goddess of Wild Things was how she came to be and it was neither a happy tale nor an exciting one.

“Tell me a story about yourself,” he asked her.

Nuzzling against him, she sighed. “There’s not a lot to tell.”

“I find that impossible.” Finn kissed her hair. “For all the time you’ve lived out here, there must be something.”

“Well…” She hummed like she was thinking. “There was this one time…”

“Yes?” he urged her on.

In the next few minutes, Rey detailed a story of her early days of immortality. The God of Wealth, slowly becoming more and more corrupted, took pleasure in tormenting her; attacking her in his eagle form, whispering how worthless she was even as a goddess. As his golden feathers dulled and thinned in his slow transformation from eagle to vulture, his assaults grew worse. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and the next time he swooped upon her while she was a lioness, she leapt into the air and grabbed him by the neck, hoping to snap it.

But the god was stronger than her and he tossed her back to the ground, running his talons down her back and laughed when she screamed in pain.

Witnessing how his son treated the Goddess of Wild Things and saddened by his corruption, the Earth God took pity on her. He taught her how to use the magic she gained and helped her create a barrier in the forest, an area he declared as her domain. The God of Wealth could not step foot on any ground she claimed as her own except for his place of worship in the forest. 

"Why don't the Mother Goddess and Earth God stop their son?" Finn asked.

Sighing, Rey buried her the side of her face into the soft pelts they lay in. "Even gods are flawed," she explained. "And what loving parents could ever kill their child?"

A thought struck him when he thought about the hunting party found in the pool on the first night. They were in the center of the forest where the magic should have kept the vulture god out. He shouldn't have been able to step foot there.

Unless...

"The water," he said out loud. "He can step foot in the forest if it's in water?"

She nodded. "Even the Great Earth God doesn't have power over water. I've never met the Water God before. But my magic has grown weaker and weaker,” Rey ended her story. “And I’m not sure how long it’ll be before the demon can step foot in the forest.”

Leaning down, the prince kissed her, and she sighed contently into it. “That sounded pretty remarkable to me,” he breathed against her lips. “And I think I might have figured out a way to save you and to stop him.”

As he told her his plan, Rey’s eyes widened and her lips parted into a silent gasp.

“What do you think?” he asked when he finished.

“I knew you were clever, but Finn, this is amazing.”

His eyes brighten. “So you think it’ll work?”

“It might.” Her voice couldn’t hide her excitement. “If my power can match his…” A tear welled in her eye, falling loose and trailing down her right cheek.

Kissing it away, Finn stroked her hair and glanced outside, noting it was the dead of night. “Do you think it’s morning?”

“Probably,” she mumbled.

His hands drifted down her neck to brush her side. “Might want to get an early start on those plans.” Placing kisses on her face, he shifted to move above her and bring his lips lower and lower down her body. “I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance tonight to give the Goddess of Wild Things proper honoring.”

One of her legs wrapped around his waist, telling Finn she was interested. Though they enjoyed each other just hours before, the prince felt a hunger he had never had. No matter how much he was with her, he felt like he could never get enough of her.

He moved his mouth to one of her nipples, his movements a lot more lazy and slower than earlier. She moaned, running her hands over his back where her nails dug lightly into his skin the first time they were in this position.

She let him focus on her for a couple of minutes until she got another idea and used her strength to flip them around so she sat on his thighs. Finn found he enjoyed the view of her from this angle, her breasts on display for him to see and her back slightly arched in pleasure.

This time, Rey moved above him, her hips rocking syrupy-slow like dripping honey. For the moment, the prince forgot about his responsibilities and how he would have to answer to his disappearance when the light of the morning arrived. How he wished he could stay here with her forever.

* * *

The light of dawn slowly woke him. As warm as he was, Finn didn’t want to move from this spot. He turned over to his side and placed his arm around Rey, nuzzling into her back only to find one of the pelts had gotten in his way.

Something furry and long brushed against his leg and he opened his eyes groggily. “Rey?”

He startled when he saw he was cuddling against a very large forest lion until he remembered it was Rey and he relaxed against her.

Yawning, she flexed her giant paws before turning around to look over her shoulder in a way that was far too coy for a forest lion. He noted the white line of fur that ran across her forehead, crossing at the center to form a diamond shape, just like her circlet.

Suddenly he realized-

“You were the one at the stream that day! Were you watching me bathe?”

Slitting her eyes, she moved around and stretched one of her long limbs over his chest. He really couldn’t be too mad with her spying on him that day; she did save his life.

“Guess you liked what you saw,” he mumbled.

Rolling her head to rub up against him, she purred her agreement. He scratched her behind the ears for a few minutes like she was a house cat. She pressed her nose up against the skin along the intersection of his ear and neck, then ran her tongue against it. Rough and sand-like, Finn winced at the feeling.

"Ugh! Rey! That really doesn't feel good," he told her, apologetically. She eyed him with disappointment, but stopped.

He understood he couldn’t stay here, as much as he would like to. If he waited too long, no doubt a search party would be heading into the forest if one hadn’t already. Finn didn’t want to be responsible for getting anymore animals or humans hurt.

“I need to get going,” he said sadly as he started to sit up. Falling to her side, Rey yowled upset. “I don’t like it either.”

Sighing deeply, Rey stood up and stretched out one more time, waiting while Finn redressed himself and picked up his mask. He vowed to himself this wouldn’t be the last night he spent with her, but a part of him wondered if either of them would walk away alive tonight.

The summer morning was bright and warm. If it wasn’t urgent for him to get back to the encampment, he would have loved to take a leisurely stroll with Rey. She probably knew the most interesting sights in the forest, all of which he would love to see.

Suddenly, Rey stopped in her tracks, staring into the thicket of trees and bushes. Squinting to see what she was looking at, Finn caught a glimpse of the head of a black and white animal, staring at them just as they were staring at it. He realized from the shape of the snout and head that they were looking at a badger, peeking out of its den.

Leaning her head down, Rey bent her front legs and stayed in that position for a moment before rising again. It was peculiar behavior and if Finn didn’t know better, she was bowing to the creature.

Glancing at the badger curiously, the prince pondered what importance the animal held in this forest. With the way the animals regarded Rey, there seemed to be a hierarchy of sorts, but wouldn’t a goddess be higher up than any other being?

Which meant the badger was probably more than meets the eye.

Not wanting to show a great power disrespect, Finn also bowed, moving his torso as if it were a hinge to a door. When he straightened himself, the badger observed him and then moved its head up and down as if to nod.

Running her tail against his leg, Rey let him know it was time to move on and led him closer to the encampment. The terrain was beginning to slope downwards, letting the prince know they were entering the final stretch of the forest.

A faint rumbling from the ground warned the pair that horses were approaching. Shouting told them a party was searching for the missing prince.

Rey looked at him sadly before rubbing her head against Finn’s leg affectionately. He kneeled down and ran his hands through her fur, trying hard not to treat her like a pet. Placing a kiss on her head, he told her, “Hey, I’ll see you tonight.”

She nodded and rubbed her head against his leg one more time before silently creeping away and out of sight. 

Walking towards the hoofbeats, Finn searched for the riders, hoping he could catch a ride with them. He wandered closer to the trail, beaten down to bare dirt from decades of use, looking around for any sign of humans.

“Finn!”

He sighed with relief when he saw his sister was leading the group on her roan gelding. Dressed in a pair of breeches for practicality, her bow rested against her back and quiver sat against the side of her saddle. This was the Jannah he knew and loved; the huntress, the rider.

“There you are!” She breathed in relief as she brought her horse to a halt in front of him. Behind her, a group of four other men followed. “Where have you been? Do you have any idea how scared we all were?” There were tears streaming down her face.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he told her honestly. “I had to run to get to safety.” Suddenly, a terrible thought ran through him. “Did anyone else-?”

“A chancellor of Tatooine,” she answered. “But no one else, thank the gods. We were certain you…”

Finn couldn’t hide anything from his family anymore. The stakes were too great and the killer too dangerous. 

“If you give me a ride back, I’ll tell you all I know,” he offered. 

She laughed and held out her hand. “For all you put us through last night, I ought to make you walk.” Nonetheless, she helped him onto the back of her horse, sitting awkwardly behind her in the saddle.

The ride back wasn’t long, but it gave him enough time to tell Jannah about what he discovered, omitting certain details to make it more believable… and about what exactly he and Rey got up to during the night. He’d practiced this story to himself while he was dozing, figuring out how to get around the god-goddess thing that likely would have his parents think he hit his head.

He told his sister the killer was a magician of the occult, and one of the most powerful ones seen in decades. The murders themselves were explained as a ritual sacrifice to the magician’s demonic god and Finn and Rey were doing their best to stop him.

“So Rey’s a magician too?” Jannah asked.

“One of the best,” Finn bragged. “See, we hid in the forest because she’s placed barriers around to keep dark magic out. The murderer can’t cross it.”

Jannah turned her head around to gape at him. “You’re brave to face such a magic-user,” she said. “I can’t imagine how it feels to not be as strong and face him.”

This was the first time he could recall a family member being wistful about his magical skill. How he’d longed to hear someone acknowledge his skill as more than a few tricks, that it might be something important. It felt nice.

Their arrival back to the camp was herald with cheers as a guard ran ahead to notify his parents that he was found safe. A horn sounded from across the camp, probably to call off the other search parties that were sent out.

Jannah took him through the encampment until they reached the tent of the Royal Family of Artorias. The moment he dismounted, his mother pulled him into an embrace, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she half-shouted, half-cried. “Never ever again!”

“I’m sorry mother,” he told her.

His father watched the exchange from a distance before clearing his throat. “I’m glad you have come back to us safe,” he began gently. “But we need to know what happened last night.”

Nodding, Prince Finn finally felt like he could let his family know more about what was going on. “We have a lot to talk about.”

King Caeid held the flap of the tent open for his family, waiting until all three of them went in before he followed. Once inside, he had them sit on the wicker couches in the main area, Finn sitting next to his mother, intent on not letting her youngest son out of her sights.

Finn began his story around his initial investigation of the dead hunting party. He described his suspicions when he sensed dark magic surrounding the dead and how Lady Rose confirmed his suspicion when she described the man she witnessed killing the singer the next night. What he omitted from his story was how he and Rey discovered the body of the dead woman first and the vulture attack in the forest.

“Lady Rey confirmed to me the murderer’s intent was to offer up a sacrifice to his demon god. We worry he intends to kill more tomorrow night, the final night.”

For the first time Finn could ever recall, his father was taking his account very seriously. He frowned the entire time, but nodded his head thoughtfully as he listened.

“And this Lady Rey is a magician as well?” he asked. 

“One of the best,” Finn explained. “And I’m glad for her help. Together we might be strong enough to stop him.”

His mother spoke up this time. “Where did you go with her last night?” Her tone of voice was full of accusation, but he knew vanishing with a woman he was obviously smitten with for a night would bring up questions and gossip. 

“Her magic is tied to the earth,” he lied, “so we hid in the forest where she has put up a barrier to keep the magician out. She tried to make a similar one around the festival the night I passed out, but he was obviously able to break through.”

His family both looked impressed and worried at the same time. Finn could tell his parents were contemplating what they should do with this knowledge and thinking through every option. 

Finally, Caeid gave an answer. “I will warn Queen Maz and seek counsel with her. While I have doubts she could convince the guests to completely leave the festival, we might be able to put up precautions to follow.” 

He stood up and his son followed suit. Looking at one another, Finn realized his father had a look of pride in his eyes. 

Outside again, Caeid took his son aside, placing both hands on Finn’s shoulders. “I can’t tell you how much help you are being right now,” he began. “But Finn, your magic isn’t very strong. Is this something you should take on? It used to be the old Magicians Order would have sent one of their own to deal with dark magic.”

People didn’t talk about the old Order much anymore, to the point that grand magicians were almost as much of myth as the old gods themselves. Centuries ago, magic was at its peak and a group of the most talented individuals trained under tutelage of the older generation of magic users. These magicians would then be employed by royalty all over the world, healing plagues and breaking curses. 

But now that order no longer exists. No one really knew why they vanished, though there were popular conspiracy theories about the royal families of the kingdoms exterminating them, but now, magic was limited in terms of what people could learn to do on their own. Few people discovered their own magical ability like Finn had; he theorized there might be many people with that ability that had no idea.

Finn understood his father’s fears. How could a magic user with as little of experience as the prince ever be able to stand a chance against an occultist wizard? Even Finn was prepared for failure against the demon god, though the thought frightened him. 

“Rey and I are the only chance to keep everyone safe,” he told Caeid. 

“And do you know who this woman is now?” the king asked.

Finn nodded. “I do.”

“And is she a noblewoman?”

Of course his father would still be concerned with Rey’s social standing. It annoyed Finn that in a time like this he would still be thinking of such a thing. 

“She is,” he decided to say. He didn't know how to explain the standing of a goddess besides _divine._

That appeared to please him at least. “Is she someone you would be interested in courting?”

His heart beat just a little faster and Finn couldn’t suppress a smile. “She is.”

Caeid patted his son on the shoulder with a wide grin. “A little later, we can talk about starting the process. I’m happy for you.”

He then headed off towards the direction of Queen Maz’s lodgings. Finn wondered what they would decide to do about the continuation of the festival and hoped they would at least call the hunters off the trail of the forest lions. 

Jannah emerged outside, grinning ear to ear at her brother. “Heard the big news.” Making a fist, she lightly punched him playfully on the arm. “Congratulations.”

Smiling, Finn felt a little victorious for once but there was still much to do. Jannah started to walk away from the tent, prompting Finn to ask, “Where are you off to?”

“Gonna go visit Rose,” she replied. “With you vanishing last night, our time got cut short.”

Suddenly, his conversation with Lady Paige came rushing back to him. “You two have gotten close,” he observed, hoping his hinting would be clear to her.

Jannah’s smile was radiant. “It’s wonderful to finally have someone I feel so close to already,” she agreed. “It’s like sharing a connection with someone I never knew could exist.”

As soon as she said that, Finn understood exactly how she felt. With Rey, he was the same. The first time they danced, it was like time stopped for them in that moment. Every minute shared, every touch, every glance made him feel like the sun was warming every inch of his body. With his father’s blessing, he hoped he could spend every future moment feeling that warmth.

“You love her, don’t you?”

Bashfully, Jannah glanced down at her feet before nodding silently. Reaching for her hand, Finn rubbed his fingers lightly over her skin.

“I’m happy for you. Truly.” He might have once been skeptical of anyone claiming to fall in love so quickly, but Rey made him see differently. Love came in many shapes and forms, and sometimes it happened before anyone could be wiser to it. Knowing this made Finn feel guilty about what he was going to ask.

“What about after the festival? You’re getting married, remember?”

Jannah bit her lower lip and didn’t meet her brother’s eyes. “I know,” she sighed. “I never thought this could happen.”

“Rose will be hurt if you break ties with her now.”

“I know. I know.” His sister rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I was going to exchange letters with her at first. Maybe even visit her. No one has to know what our relationship really is.”

The skeptic in Finn showed its face. “You think this can go on after your wedding? Will your fiancé be fine with you having an affair? I don’t want to sound mean… but I don’t want either of you to get your hearts broken.”

“The nobility have affairs all the time,” she pointed out. “Why can’t we have the same?”

Finn replied, “Do you know your fiancé well enough to know he would look the other way?”

Jannah didn’t have a response for him, but she was clearly upset. Holding his arms out, he gestured for her to come closer so he could embrace her.

“I want everything to work out for you,” he whispered. “But I’m worried.”

She pushed back against him, laughing uncomfortably. “You have a dark magician to fight, and you’re worried about _me?”_

Well, when she put it like that, it seemed a little silly. Finn wanted to believe everything would be fine. If he didn’t think like that, he might not have the courage to face the night.

He didn’t know how to respond to her. His silence must have spoken volumes because Jannah hugged him tightly once more before letting him go.

“I’ll see you later,” she told him and walked away, no doubt going off to find Rose. He hoped she wasn’t upset with him and part of him felt like he betrayed her trust by not minding his own business.

But he still needed to enact his plan.

Finn told himself Rey’s story over and over as he wandered around the royal camp and into the area for the nobility. There was more than enough people around, he just needed to find the right audience. 

Walking around the grounds, the prince watched the activities of those around him. Wishing her felt as excited and joyous as his first day here, he wandered up and down the rows of merchant and food stalls to see who was out and about. To his disappointment, the crossbow he had his eye on all week had been sold. It was bound to happen but he was sad to see it go. It was nice to appreciate such a beautiful work of craftsmanship.

A group of children ran by him, waving around toy swords and bows. They were loud, lively, and completely unaffected by the fearful mood the adults shared. Reminding Finn of his own childhood, he thought back to happier times running around the castle suites with his sister.

They were playing hunters, he guessed, and he looked around for what they might be “hunting” – usually another kid or some poor street cat. As a prince, Finn never got many chances to play with children his own age. It might have been better to have more friends, but at least he couldn’t say he was lonely.

A small head peeked out from the side of a food stall and then quickly retreated. He knew right away that his was the “prey.” Casually passing by the tent, the prince glanced over to see the child wearing a too-large forest lion mask over her face. 

“Are you a lioness?” he asked her.

She nodded and giggled. “The scariest.” Holding up her hands and spreading her fingers, she hissed.

Pretending to be frightened, Finn widened his eyes and opened his mouth in a faux gasp. “Ah, a big scary lion is going to get me!” He winked, making the girl giggle. “Where are those hunters to save me?”

“They can’t catch me! I’m the Goddess of Wild Things!”

Finn couldn’t help but grin. He wished Rey were here to see this. “The goddess is too clever,” he agreed. “She would sneak behind the hunters and catch _them.”_

The girl’s spirits visibly fell flat. “I can’t,” she said. “I’m not quick enough.”

An idea popped into his head. “I know a way to defeat the hunters. If you believe in a little magic.”

Under the mask, her blue eyes widened, sparkling with excitement.

A few minutes later, Finn and the girl were pressed up against the side of the stall, trying to stay out of sight. He gazed around the corner to see the other kids in the distance, searching for their playmate. Giving her a thumbs up, he whispered, “Okay, when they pass by, get ready.”

She nodded. They ran through the plan three time already; she knew what to do.

The other kids passed by the stall without noticing them.

“Now.”

Jogging with a soft step to remain silent, she snuck up behind the others. Finn concentrated on what he wanted to do, waiting until the time was right.

With a slight jump, Finn created a light gust to propel her upward, just enough for her to get on the closest child’s back before they noticed her. Startled, the boy squealed before his voice turned to laughter, prompting his friends to turn around to see what the commotion was.

“Got you!” the girl announced. “You can’t catch the Goddess of Wild Things!”

The reaction from the children varied by the individual, but all of them were bewildered of how their friend suddenly crept up on them like that. She pointed out Finn with a huge grin on her face.

“He helped. He’s got magic!”

All the children looked at Finn like they were looking at a legend in the flesh. He laughed. “Anything for my friend, the Goddess of Wild Things. She’d want to play too if she were here.”

A boy carrying a wooden sword stared at Finn in awe. “You know the goddess?”

“She’s a good friend of mine,” the prince said with affection. 

The boy’s eyes widened. “Woah.”

“I don’t know much about the goddess,” another confessed.

This was the perfect time to set his idea into motion. Finn couldn’t believe his luck. “I can tell you a bit about her,” he offered. “A couple of stories.”

The children were all but begging him to tell them, so he gathered them around an open spot in the campground and told the story Rey told him earlier. Engrossed by the story, the boys and girls hung on his every word.

“And so with the help of the Great Earth God, Reyna used her magic to protect the forest from the God of Greed, where he cannot step foot to this day,” Finn concluded. 

Clapping, the children and the adults that drifted into the story circle to listen in whispered to each other in delight. Few had heard of the story about how the goddess came to be and there was more mystery surrounding her place in the pantheon. The adults seemed taken by her tragic story while the children were more interested in her animal form and how she protected the forest. 

And now, they knew her name.

Visiting the other camps, Finn did something similar in each one by telling the stories to those willing to lend an ear. Soon, he heard guests relay the stories to others in the market stalls, getting the word out about the goddess and what today really meant.

Speaking of which…

Checking the sun’s position in the sky, he realized it was getting close to the afternoon, and he needed to hurry back to his family’s tent if he wanted to be in time for the offering to the Lion Goddess. Of course he wouldn’t miss Rey’s offering and if he knew the other gods, he might feel just as strongly about their rituals.

He rushed back to the royal site, hoping his family was there and waved at the guards as he passed by. Just as he was about to enter through the flap, Poe ran directly into him.

“There you are!” he gaped. “I can’t believe you got it!”

Finn blinked, confused. “Huh?”

“The crossbow! Who got it for you?”

Pointing inside, Poe showed him a table where the crossbow from the market, the one the prince had been eyeing for days, was sitting. 

Running his fingers carefully over the wooden body of the bow, he admired it before he looked around the tent. “Who-?”

Sitting quietly on a nearby couch, his mother smiled quietly, knowingly. Finn knew right away who it was from.

“Thank you, mother.”

She patted the space beside her, asking her son to sit next to her. “Your father told me your news. I wanted to congratulate you, but…”

The next part of her sentence hung in the air. Fear. Dread. Like everyone in the family, she worried about what was in store for Finn tonight. 

“Please be careful,” she begged. “I want to meet Rey tomorrow night at the unmasking.” A wink was shot his way, though the prince understood it was to cover her fright and anxiety.

He pulled her into a hug. “I can’t wait for you to properly meet her,” he said. “She’s amazing.”

The final night of the festival was when everyone would remove their masks at midnight, allowing everyone to glimpse who they shared their joy and meals with. It was often a night full of drama when the masks no longer hid the identities of those you might have danced and mingled with. Not everyone was always happy when they finally saw what was hiding behind them.

Finn didn’t have to be concerned about that part, but he worried about how he would introduce Rey. She might be a goddess, but was anyone going to buy that?

A new fear sat in his mind, but the prince knew he needed to push that to the back of his thoughts for now.

He stood up. “Shouldn’t we be getting ready for the tree planting ceremony?”

Isana laughed. “We have plenty of time to get there. I’ve never seen you so excited for a ritual!”

“Guess the Goddess of Wild Things is your new inspiration, huh?” Poe observed.

Feeling his cheeks warm, the prince tried to keep himself composed and not give himself away. What could he say? Rey was very important to him.

A half an hour later, he and his family with Poe were heading outside towards the forest, saplings carried in their arms. The prince selected an ash sapling for his offering, being fond of the trees and hoping Rey would like his selection too.

The ritual itself did not last long. Earlier, a group of gardeners dug up plots in this area of the forest for partakers to simply place their sapling into the ground and cover it with dirt. Finn found a spot that got plenty of sunlight and enough room to grow, keeping one eye on the woodlands and wondered if Rey was watching.

He patted his hands and tried to wipe the dirt off his trousers, thankful he selected to wear a darker material for this. It would still be a few more hours before the feast, but he had a lot of preparation to do in the meantime. 

First, he wanted to test out that new crossbow.

* * *

By the time the feast started, the story the prince told earlier in the day had spread across the encampment. It was entertaining to the guests and never heard before. Everyone was starving for more about the Goddess of Wild Things and Finn wished he had more to tell them. He would have to ask Rey for more stories, maybe even write them down somewhere.

Just as the sun was setting, he exited the tent and searched for her. Every moment with her was precious and he didn’t know what the night would bring. The earlier he could be with her, the better.

He wandered around the tent for a few minutes before he saw the image of gold brocade curtaining cream fabric while her golden fur cloak still draped along her shoulders. A double-take made him realize this was Rey approaching the feast, her dress different from the nights before and far more regal.

“Rey,” he breathed to grab her attention. “You look… _wow.”_

Gazing into his eyes, she picked up the skirts of her gown and spun around. Finn could imagine her grin under her mask. “I have you to thank, I suppose,” she answered. “My strength is returning rapidly. I haven’t felt this strong in centuries.”

Finn grinned. “You’re glowing.” Drawing closer to her, he put his hand up to her mask and stroked her hair, silently asking for her permission to continue. When she didn’t stop him, he gently lifted the lion face up enough to reveal her mouth and leaned in to kiss her on the lips, savoring their touch against his own.

She reached for his hand as they pulled away and Finn put her mask back in place. "Dance with me," she requested.

Finn smiled. "Like I'd say no?" He held her hand delicately, leading her inside. They might have much to face that night, but the evening was for her.

Upon entering the tent, the louder guests cheered her in greeting.

"Ah, Lady Reyna."

"Your Grace, welcome."

"Glad the goddess herself can join us."

Joy and excitement radiated from her. The prince could almost feel her magic and strength increase the more she was spoken to. The guests were just joking around, obviously not thinking they were in the presence of an actual goddess, but to Rey, the attention meant everything to her. 

He led her to dance, knowing as a couple they were the talk of the feast. On the dais, his mother and father watched them dreamily while Jannah and Rose sat close together off to the side of the tent, pointing and giggling. A glance around the dance floor brought his attention to Poe, partnered with a petite woman wearing a rabbit mask.

Leaning against Finn, Rey sighed. "I loved the saplings you planted for me. All of them."

"I take it you find the offering acceptable then?" he joked.

She lowered her voice, trying to sound more commanding. "Oh yes, and I will continue watching the forest so humans can continue hunting its creatures and tearing down its trees en mass."

When she put it that way, the point of the festival suddenly seemed selfish. No wonder the God of Wealth fell to corruption.

Her demeanor changed though, and her eyes looked at him full of affection. "Thank you again, Finn."

"It's the least I can do."

Rey shook her head. "You have no idea what you've done for me. One of the curses is broken thanks to you. The demon holds less power over me. If we can end him tonight, I will finally be free of him."

Never contemplating what freedom would mean to a deity before, Finn's stomach somersaulted. He had the urge to hold Rey as close to him as possible, vow to ensure the plan would succeed, but propriety stopped him from doing so.

He had prevented her from failing for the time being, but would people continue to tell her stories generations down the line? If they did, would they be accurate enough to reflect the true image of the Goddess of Wild Things?

And what about her immortality? The prince had not brought this up with her yet, but if he gave her his heart, would their love be doomed as he aged and eventually died? Would a goddess want to be with an old man? Her own story implied gods could bestow everlasting life on mortals but he wasn't sure how that worked. He hated to think she would be left alone again more than death frightened him.

At the same time, where would that leave his family? He doubted his parents would believe him about Rey's identity and that also brought along the threat of his father revoking his blessing of their courtship. As much as he would hate to disappoint his family, Finn felt torn over what he might have to do if they changed their minds.

Too bad Rey couldn't use her magic to make herself a noblewoman, like she resembled now. I was something he would have to bring up with her too.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," he told her, longing in his voice.

She teased him. "Like how? Dancing forever? I thought you hated dancing?"

"It's different with you."

Brushing her hand softly against his shoulder, she replied, "I know."

When the last string of the song waned, Rey did not try to leave in a hurry like she always did. She even allowed Finn to drag him over to his friends and family.

He took her to Poe and Jannah, a large smile across his face. "This is-"

"Finn, you can't give away our identities," Jannah scolded him before she covered her mouth with her hand.

The prince laughed. "Like the way you just gave mine up?"

"Well, we all know who you are," she tried to save herself, though she glanced at Rey nervously.

She stepped forward. "I can tell you are his sister. It's wonderful to meet you, Princess."

Jannah clearly noted the lack of formalities in Rey's actions. She looked her up and down, trying to distinguish Rey's rank by her appearance. "You're wearing a different dress tonight," she noted. "It's beautiful. So _regal."_

If Rey caught on to her meaning, and Finn didn't doubt she did, she made no indication. "Thank you. I was saving it for a special night."

Not one to miss out on conversation, Poe greeted her with a brief bow. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, m'lady. My friend, the prince, is truly smitten with you. I can see why." He turned to Finn to wink at him.

"And I him." Rey turned her gaze toward Finn, looking coy again. He gripped her hand tighter.

"I was hoping I could ask a dance of you later," Poe continued, his lips twitching upward in amusement. "If the prince will allow me to steal you away, that is."

Finn rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the feeling of wanting Rey all to himself. It wasn't jealousy, per se, he knew Poe wasn't being anything more than friendly and curious, but with the evening growing short, the prince wanted to spend every moment with her as he could.

Rey glanced Poe up and down before she agreed. "I would like to know more about Finn's friends."

She held her hand out to him, who smiled graciously as he took it. "You do me a great honor, m'lady." He led her out to dance with Finn, Rose, and Jannah watching from the sideline.

"He's such a charmer," huffed Jannah.

Finn shot her a look. "I thought you wanted me to learn from him?"

"You didn't have a problem wooing a woman after all." She shrugged.

They watched as Rey and Poe jubilantly trotted along the floor. Keeping in step with one another, Finn could see their lips moving as they held a conversation between them. The prince speculated what they were discussing and hoped Poe wasn't telling her too many embarrassing stories.

He politely clapped for the dancers when they were finished. Rey and Poe bowed to one another before they went back to join their friends on the benches.

"You have a good friend, Finn," she told him as she sat down.

"What did he tell you?" The prince asked nervously.

Giggling, Rey touched his arm. "He just wanted to make sure I'm not using you for your title."

"Wouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Well, he doesn't know that part." Finn imagined a smile under her mask, lively and bright. He wished he could see it; hope he could keep making her smile like that.

They squeezed in one more dance before Queen Maz called everyone to quiet down. She rose from her seat, a glass of wine in her hands.

“I would like to give a toast,” she announced. “We are in the presence of a very special guest.” Staring at Rey, the queen grinned. “The Goddess of Wild Things herself.”

Laughter rang through the tent, while Finn and Rey sat silently and almost uncomfortably, their cups raised. None of the guests around them thought anything of Rey’s costume as more than an ode to the goddess, but the way the queen looked at her made Finn think she knew more than she let on. He wasn’t sure if he’d get a chance to ask her, but it left him to wonder…

“A toast to Her Grace, Reyna. May she bless us for another year.”

Her name echoed all around them. Rey’s strength immediately increased by the tenfold. Straightening her back, her entire being radiated with pride and confidence.

And almost simultaneously the candles blew out, prompting the fearful screams of the guests. Finn braced himself, expecting yet another to drop dead. Maybe the vulture demon would target him this time. He was the reason why the Goddess of Wild Things was getting her power back, after all.

She stood close to him, as if hoping she could protect him with her willpower alone. While everyone around them panicked and started to rush away from the tent, they remained in their spots, cautious of everything around them.

Jannah and Poe paused in their escape to look back at the pair. “Finn!” they shouted in unison.

He looked towards them apologetically, but did not move to be with them. His sister gazed him in the eyes with concern before she nodded in acceptance and put her hand around Poe’s shoulders to urge him out of the tent.

Alone, Finn and Rey were ready to take on the demon. The prince ran for the opposite side of the tent, retreating for the moment just to uncover his new crossbow which he hid earlier in an empty wooden crate. He held it against him like a lifeline, strapping his quiver of bolts to his belt.

A group of men in uniform ran towards the tent. Trying to get a better look, Finn squinted his eyes and saw the tree insignia of the Queen of Takodana on their blue coats. They were the queen’s guards, and they were armed. They must have been sent here to fight the demon god.

“Wait!” Finn called out. “It’s not-"

It was too late. The moment the men stepped foot in the tent, they were surrounded by black smoke. They didn’t even have time to scream.

The prince grimaced when he watched their bodies fall lifelessly to the ground and gripped his crossbow tighter. Taking a deep breath, he ran back in.

In the darkness, he sought Rey out, finding her in a defensive stance with a spear in her hand. He wondered where she was hiding it, or maybe if it was another perk of having godly powers. 

He joined her. “Where is he?”

“Shh…” Rey looked around the black smoke. Gesturing him closer, Finn stood ready next to her.

Out of the smoke, a black-booted foot stepped forward, followed by another. Dressed all in black, the man stood tall and full of rage. His eyes glowed dangerously amber under his skeletal mask.

“Fools,” he spat in a booming voice. “You must think yourselves so clever.”

Rey retorted, “Perhaps.”

Kylo, the demon God of Greed took a step towards them, his hand outstretched and revealing the sharpened tips of metal adorning his fingers. “I expect no less of you, Reyna. You were always so defiant. But meddling in business that does not concern you?”

“Everything you do in my forest concerns me,” she growled, poising her spear to strike.

He laughed. “You’d even protect the humans that forgot about you? I didn’t think you were so stupid.”

Finn felt his finger itch for the trigger of the crossbow. How dare this demon insult Rey like this? He wanted to run a bolt through him right then if he wasn’t concerned about whether or not it would work.

Instead, Rey screamed and moved to strike. All her anger and anguish seemed to blaze from her. She raised her spear, and charged, intending to run Kylo down.

He blocked her with his hands… somehow. It certainly wasn’t something a mortal could have done. 

But when he pushed Rey’s weapon away, there was blood on the edges of the spearhead. Slowly, Kylo held his hand out and inspected it, running one of his clawed fingers along the black glove. The sliver blade of his weapon came back wet with red.

Gods didn’t bleed unless they were matched in power – Finn wasn’t sure how that worked – according to Rey. Perhaps it had something to do with their kind of magic. There were still so many questions he had.

This meant their plan was working. Rey was currently matched in power to the God of Greed thanks to the belief of the people at the festival.

Glaring at the goddess and the prince, Kylo backed away, his hands poised to stab at them. His knees bent, like he was ready to make his attack.

Finn allowed a bolt to fly, striking the demon in his side. Sinking lopsidedly, Kylo grunted and looked down where he was hit, allowing his hand to drift over the spot. No blood was drawn, but that didn’t matter; it was now two against one.

“You both will suffer,” he warned, before he took a step back and vanished into darkness.

Rey suddenly gasped. “He went to the forest.”

The prince was bewildered by the news. “I thought he couldn’t step foot there?”

“He can in one spot,” she reminded Finn, taking him by the hand. “C’mon. We don’t have a lot of time before midnight.” 

Clutching each other’s hands, the prince and the lion goddess ran straight into danger. This time, they were the hunters and not the hunted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession: I haven't finished the final chapter of this story yet, but I'm going to try very hard to get it finished by next weekend. I may be holding off on finishing the next Werewolf AU chapter for that reason.


	7. Night Without a God

In the darkness of night, the prince clutched the goddess’s hand as she led him to the site of the fallen shrine. He worried if he let go of her, he would be lost in the woodlands. With a demon god on the loose, everything little noise and thought gave him anxiety and drowned him in fear.

The summer heat left the ground dry and free of mud patches and puddles. Rey’s steps remained light and quiet, like a forest lion on the prowl, and Finn tried his best to mimic her. He wondered how fast she could run if he wasn’t with her.

They came to the clearing too quickly for him to process the danger he was in. Crossbow drawn, the prince kept his eyes open for any movement near the shrine.

The God of Greed did not hide from them. Like the vulture statue, he stood still in the overgrown grass that was once the floor of his shrine, waiting for them.

Finn glanced around him, studying the perimeter of the shrine and areas of water around it. The stretch of land where the shrine wall stood wasn’t very large; Finn had seen sitting rooms bigger than this. If they could keep him contained in this area, Kylo couldn’t run far.

“You are in my domain now, Reyna,” he reminded the Goddess of Wild Things. “My father’s power won’t help you here.”

She clutched her spear closer to her. “I don’t need his aid tonight,” she countered. “My power’s the strongest it’s ever been.” Glancing at him, the prince perceived her affection to warm his heart.

Kylo frowned under his mask. “You’ll allow this mortal man to take your fall.” He tsked. “How selfish you truly are.”

Rage flared in Finn’s stomach. “She’s not selfish.” His free fist clenched. “You’re the one killing for pleasure.”

“Sacrifices are necessary,” Kylo shot back. “Offerings must be made for my blessing. It is how it’s always been. And when they are not given to me, I take them myself.”

“Offerings don’t have to be payments of life!” Rey’s anger shot through the night, flaring within her like the spark of a flame. “You used to take what little the people could spare; appreciated their love and faith. Greed turned you into this monster.” A sob broke from her, like she was reminded of everything the demon did to her.

Pointing her spear at him, she declared, “And for that, I must end you.”

In an attack stance, the demon God of Greed held his hands out, fingers spread. “You will be the one to meet your end. The mortal too.”

Instead of aiming for Rey, Kylo turned his weapons upon Finn. He lunged forward, catching the prince off guard. With his crossbow in hand, Finn didn’t have time to aim before he let a bolt fly in panic. It struck the demon’s leg, but it did was toss Kylo’s balance.

Rey saw her opportunity. With the strength of her arms, she thrust the spearhead towards his side, forcing the demon to leap away. He focused on her this time. Silver talons gleamed dangerously in the moonlight.

Not making a move, the two deities stared each other down, waiting for the other to attack first. Finn knew Kylo’s hesitation stemmed from his sudden fear of Rey’s ability. It was the same fear Rey held within her all along. She could kill him now, and that terrified him. His banter was nothing more than a cover; a feign of confidence to frighten her away.

It was hard to tell who moved first. With how fast the gods were, Finn could not register their split-second movements. They locked weapons, their voices thrown into cries of anger and hate. Rey snarled like the lioness she was in the daylight, raising her spear away and taking a step back. 

They circled one another, two predators waiting for an opening to strike. Kylo abandoned the idea of close combat, moving his right hand in a circular motion to summon a blade out of dark smoke. It was a strange sword, with an overextended cross guard above the pommel. The prince wasn’t sure how the cross guard could possibly be better than a normal sized one – if anything, it would add excess, unnecessary weight – but he decided it would be better not to question the weapons of the gods. 

The sword began glowing, writing in an ancient language with fire-hot, red ink. Finn felt himself back away, even as Rey stood her ground.

Kylo spun the sword effortlessly with his wrist. He glared at Finn and Rey before he turned the weapon on her. Making a stabbing motion, he aimed for her stomach. She moved out of the way in time to avoid his strike, making a lunge for him with her spear.

Blow after blow landed as the weapons hit one another. Kylo might have been a lot larger than Rey, but she made up for that with her sheer ferocity. Finn kept his eye on them, looking for an opening but feeling almost useless as a mortal. 

Rey drove the demon backwards, almost to the boundary of the shrine grounds, but he found his footing again and turned the attack back at her. They shifted back and forth between power and struggle. When it seemed like Kylo got the upper hand, Rey returned full of rage and took it back.

He got a swipe in at her face, removing the lion mask and revealing the flesh underneath. Infuriated, Rey snarled at him.

The demon held up his sword. “I could kill you right now, Reyna,” he taunted.

“So why don’t you?” She looked at him in disgust, panting. “You never had a problem hurting me for centuries.”

A moment passed between them when neither made a move. Kylo looked at Rey, confused by her lack of action.

Finn saw his fingers twitch and the prince took his shot.

It hit him in his knee, forcing the god to hunch over for a moment. He turned to Finn, his anger redirected.

Rey attacked Kylo viciously before he could raise his weapon upon the prince. She forced him backwards again, her spear just barely missing him.

Then, Kylo reached the edge of the shrine grounds. As if electrocuted, he jumped in shock before he fell to the ground, his mask falling with him. 

For the first time, Finn glimpsed the face of the God of Greed. It was narrow and oddly unremarkable for what he would have thought the face of a deity would look like. Black hair, feathered and dull lay limply against the pale skin of his skull and fear was clear in his widened, brown eyes.

The prince remembered Rey’s story of how the God of Wealth was once beautiful. He imagined the god as he might have been, with golden hair as brilliant as the feathers of the eagle he was said to once take the form of. Corruption not only took its toll on his eagle form, feathers blackening and thinning until he became the ugly, skeletal vision of a vulture, it also reflected in his human image.

Her spear was hovering over his neck. The demon god panicked.

“Wait!” he cried and turned his neck to look at Finn. “You don't understand what you’re doing! Killing me will throw the world off-balance!”

“Are you still trying to sell us that?” Rey deadpanned. She raised her spear again.

Kylo’s voice raised in fear. “I can give you anything you want!” he directed at Finn again, reaching his hand out like he was asking for help. “Power. Wealth. You can be king. You can be the richest man in the world!”

“I’ve never wanted any of that,” the prince replied. He had never had the desire to be king and wealth and power already belonged to him. The demon god was desperate, and his offers were obviously one last attempt to trick them.

He tried something else. Something closer to Finn’s heart. “I can give you Reyna. Her heart will be yours. No one will tear you apart, I _swear!”_

Finn didn’t buy this trick again, but as he looked at Rey, he hesitated. How many times in the last week did he dread the end of the festival, wondering how he could convince his family to let him be with Rey without revealing her immortality? 

It was just enough to give the demon god what he wanted. An ounce of belief to give him strength.

He threw Rey to the ground, drawing his weapon on her this time. Finn felt dread build in him and he rushed in to help her, pointing the crossbow at Kylo’s head.

The demon kicked Rey before he turned on the prince. “A mortal as any,” he taunted. “There’s always something they would give anything for.”

“Rey’s heart is only something she can give,” Finn answered. He looked her way as she picked herself off the ground. “And I have already given her mine.”

He didn’t get to see her reaction before Kylo drew closer to him. “A romantic. How… tiresome.”

Finn didn’t register the pain along his shoulder until Kylo drew away, blood and a shred of fabric sticking to his silver claws. He looked down at his chest, seeing red soak into the fabric of his tunic. Then, his shoulder burst into fire-hot agony.

A shriek filled the air as Finn felt his body grow numb, like he was drifting away as time stood still. The god was still close to him, smirking with eyes glowing amber.

The prince found himself saying a prayer to spirits of the earth, asking them to help him one more time. He imagined what he wanted to be done and hoped he had enough strength left to do it.

The ground shook beneath him, splitting apart and kicking up dirt and rock as a tree root emerged and wrapped itself around the demon god’s ankle. He struggled against it, trying to break free, but its hold was too strong.

As Finn fell to the ground, he saw Kylo raise his blade defensively as Rey rushed into him, her spearhead bursting through his chest. She screamed the prince’s name, but the world was a blur to him before it turned black and he saw no more.

* * *

When his awareness came back to him, his body felt heavy, his head light, almost thoughtless. He wanted to go back to sleep and with darkness all around him, he wondered if he was.

A chill overtook him. Finn began to shiver and wished he had a better handle on fire magic. Too bad he hadn’t had the chance to ask Rey for pointers.

Harsh sobbing filled his ears. Someone was crying and Finn had the urge to reach out to help them, whoever they were. Searching, he looked for the source of the sound but found no one. Just darkness.

_“O! Mother Goddess!”_ a woman’s voice rang out. _“Please save him. Please! I beg you.”_

It was still freezing, but at least it wasn’t pitch black anymore. Slowly, the world lit up to a soft gray until finally he was surrounded by brilliant white. He was hopeful for warmth like sunlight, but he didn’t get his wish.

_“I’ll give anything!”_

Something fluttered to the ground – or at least, what he thought was the ground. The light made it impossible to distinguish anything beyond his own body. All he could see was white. He walked up to the object to observe it closer.

It was a white feather, so light it almost blended with the world. As he focused on it, he heard humming. Another woman’s voice, deep and melodic.

His tunic felt damp, and as he looked down at his clothes, he watched as the fabric soaked through, clinging to his skin. He shook violently from the cold, gasping as he spotted the torn fabric along his shoulder, the area around it tinted red from blood.

The humming grew louder.

_“Finn,”_ the sobbing woman called to him. _“Come back to me.”_

The familiarity of the voice motivated him to keep searching, but it appeared no one was with him. “Where are you?”

_“Finn!”_

The white light gave, fading to reveal the forest under moonlight. He looked down at the feather again to find it was floating on the surface of water.

He blinked slowly as he shivered. Hazily, he recognized this place as the spring of Rey’s shrine. Emerged in the water, he figured out the source of his chill.

Struggling, he desperately tried to pull himself out but found something was keeping him in place. Warm hands wrapped around his chest.

“Shh…” a voiced behind him soothed. “You need to stay in for a little longer. The spring is healing you.”

“Rey-?” he slurred. “S’cold."

"I know,” she answered sympathetically. “Just a little longer.”

Leaning back into her, he tried to absorb her warmth and wondered how she got him over here. There was no sign of Kylo either.

“Is he-?”

Finn felt her nod against his neck. “He is.”

The burden on his shoulders from the last few days suddenly lifted. After all this, a demon god fell, though the prince knew he could hardly take any credit. He didn’t so much as scratch Kylo and he almost died.

_He almost died…_

Gasping, he asked, “It was bad, wasn’t it?”

Rey nodded again. “I thought I was too late.” Her voice sounded heavy and hoarse, like she was about to cry. “I begged the Mother Goddess to heal you.”

The white feather still drifted atop the water’s surface. It only took him a moment more to recognize it as a dove’s – the other form of the Great Mother Goddess who gave life to all.

Fear welled inside him. He worried he didn’t know how to show appreciation and honor to a supreme deity. Rey might not have cared much about formalities, but he would think a creator goddess certainly _would._

As if reading his mind, Rey told him, “You need not worry. I already gave her payment.”

He wondered what she had to give up to please a supreme goddess. Either way, Finn felt a sense of eternal gratitude towards Rey. Nothing could possibly be enough to thank her.

Despite the cold, he felt his strength slowly return to him. Turning his neck, he looked down to the tear in his tunic along his shoulder. He poked his finger under the fabric and pulled it to the side, revealing a long, raised scar.

“Looks worse than it is, huh?” he tried to joke, but Rey’s silence told him it wasn't a laughing matter to her. He dropped the subject. 

“I tried to heal you myself,” she confessed in a whisper. “But I wasn’t strong enough.” She grabbed his shoulders, careful of his injuries, and hugged him. “I thought I was too late.”

“I’m alive,” he reminded her, trying to get her to think about something else. “Thanks to you and the Mother Goddess.”

He leaned up to kiss the bottom corner of her cheek where he could reach. She sighed into him, her breath warming the skin of his forehead.

A distant cooing broke their attention away from each other. The pair searched around for the noise, finding a lone dove perched in the hands of Rey’s statue. Unlike normal doves, this one had eyes full of intelligence as she watched Finn and Rey. She held something in her beak, a thin leather rope with something small dangling off of it. 

Gasping, Rey gathered herself from behind Finn and leaned forward on the ground in a bow. “Thank you, Great Mother. Thank you.”

Finn tried to follow her lead, but had difficulty bowing in the water while he was shaking. He hoped the Mother Goddess didn’t think him ungrateful, though it was too bad she couldn’t warm the water too.

The Dove Goddess cooed again and took flight. As she flew overhead, she dropped what she was holding, allowing it to fall into the wild grass within Rey’s reach. Shakily, she grabbed it, gathering it in her hands as she held it close to her chest.

Trying to see what it was, he craned his neck over before deciding to simply turn around. He wasn’t leaving the water, at least. “What is it, Rey?” he asked.

“My mother’s necklace,” she answered quietly, allowing it to dangle from her hand. It was a simple green stone, wrapped by twine to hang from the leather strand. “My father made this for her when they married. They were too poor to buy jewelry. When I got older, he gave it to me.”

At first, Finn wondered why the Great Goddess had it, but then he realized-

“You gave that up as payment for her to heal me?”

She nodded. “It was the only thing I had that was of any value to me.” Clutching it to her again, she looked around. “I wonder why she gave it back...?”

Reaching for her hand, Finn waited until she looked at him in the eyes before he said, “I love you, Rey. You are one of the most selfless beings I've ever met.”

Her eyes widened and watered before she placed her hands on Finn’s cheeks. “I love you too,” she answered, before she leaned down and kissed him.

Finn tried not to get her too wet, but he found it difficult as their kiss deepened. As warm as she was against him, he wanted to press up against her and absorb all her heat for himself.

She chuckled as she broke away. “You can get out now.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. Scrambling to get a grip on the edge of the pool, the prince slowly pulled himself out of the water, having trouble by being weighed down by soaked clothes.

Rey helped him sit down. “I’m sorry I don’t have a blanket, but it’s warming up already.”

It was, being in the middle of summer and all. He tried to convince himself he was feeling warmer as he stared out at the sunrise, tinting the sky pink and orange.

Wait…

Turning to Rey, he watched to see if there was any indication she was about to change into a forest lion again. He waited a few more moments but nothing happened.

Her smile was radiant, almost as blinding as the sun itself. “It looks like my other curse broke when I killed him,” she observed, though she couldn’t be happier.

“That also means you can leave your forest now, if you want,” he hinted. Not that he expected her to, but he would love if she accompanied him to Yavin.

Like she understood what he was asking, she nodded. “I want to see the world,” she said. “But I want to make sure the forest will be all right without me first.”

As disappointed as he was, Finn couldn’t say he was upset with her. Spending centuries alone in this forest had taken its toll on her. In her shoes, he might have been nervous to venture into the unknown too, but he didn’t want this to be their last day together.

“I have to go to my sister’s wedding,” he replied, “but I’ll come back. Can I visit you?”

“Of course.” She leaned in to press her lips to his again. “I want you to come back.”

There was still so much for them to talk about and Finn wasn’t sure if they had enough time to cover the bare essentials. Immortality was at the forefront of his mind. She hadn’t always been a goddess, but the reality was that as long as she was remembered, she would live forever. It was no stroll in the garden to live eternally and Finn wasn’t sure how he felt about himself taking that on, if he would even be allowed. Gods could bestow immortality on mortals based on Rey’s story, but perhaps there were rules of who could do that.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she broke him out of his thoughts. “I want you to think about this, Finn. Living forever… it’s lonely.”

She spoke of experience, of course, but if he shared that life with her, there would be a big difference. “We’d have each other.”

“That’s not exactly what I mean,” Rey clarified. “Living forever means you’ll watch your family and their children and their children age and die. I can tell you love them. Is that something your heart can take?”

When he thought about it, imagined his parents grow old and his siblings have children, his stomach clenched. The thought of Theron on the throne instead of his parents, though he knew it would happen one day, hurt and not because he didn’t want his brother to be king. It hurt because one day, his parents would not be alive anymore.

“I’ll think about it."

That seemed to appease her worry. She held out her hand to help him stand. “I’ll be waiting for you here when you get back. Whenever that may be.”

“You’ll come to the feast tonight though, right?” Finn asked anxiously.

Rey wrapped her arms around his back and waist. “Of course.”

They kissed again, the morning sunlight and her love warming him. When they broke away, he found tried to chase her lips.

“You should probably go back to your family,” she whispered. “Rest. I’m sure they’re worried sick.”

He didn’t want to leave her, but he knew she was right. They may have their differences and disagreements, but Finn truly loved his parents and siblings. He didn’t want to force their nerves and fears to linger for his safety.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she told him again, grinning. “A night without a god.”

It was ironic that the most loved god of _Féile Óir_ was dead, but something didn’t settle right with Finn. “Is he truly gone?” he asked. “If people still believe in him, if they are still worshiping greed, won’t he come back?”

She brushed his cheek gently. “The god we knew is gone, but you’re right. Someday, he may return, though I don’t think he will be the same god. Humans are changing how they worship. He might not even have the form of a vulture. Perhaps something else.”

Gold coin came to mind to the prince. He saw how others worshiped the metal like it was a god itself. Perhaps that was how the world was changing, though it wasn’t for the better. He wondered if there would ever be a world where humans weren’t so greedy and couldn’t imagine it.

But if Rey wasn’t concerned, he probably shouldn’t be either. As long as the new god didn’t bother them, it would be fine.

Hoofbeats broke him from his train of thought and the pair looked to see a small group of horses heading their way. Quickly, Rey retrieved her mask off the ground and put it back on, reminding Finn that his ram mask was no longer on his face. He looked around for it, but when he located it next to the edge of the spring, he didn’t have time to retrieve it.

His father led the charge, Jannah and Poe riding together, shouting when they spotted the prince.

“You’re all right!” his sister cried. “Thank the gods!”

“She got that part right,” Rey mumbled.

The horses were halted around the pair, the king and his daughter quickly dismounting and running towards Finn.

“You’re soaked,” Caeid commented and gestured for Poe to grab the blanket roll secured to Jannah’s saddle. The prince’s closest friend quickly did so, draping it around Finn’s shoulders before checking Rey up and down for injuries.

“Are you hurt, m’lady?” he asked.

Rey shook her head. “I’m fine.”

The king looked around the area. “What about the magician?” he inquired.

“Dead,” Finn answered.

Caeid nodded with a frown. “Good work, you two.” He looked troubled. “I don’t like seeing people as young as you take on such danger, but… we were at loss of what to do.” He approached Rey and offered his hand, which she took. Slowly, he placed a kiss on the back of her hand.

“Lady Rey, you have my gratitude.” He glanced at his son with an approving smile. “I think we have a lot to talk about. Starting with an apology.”

Almost at the same time, Jannah and Poe’s mouths dropped indignantly. Finn understood their sentiment. Never one to like to appear in the wrong, his father rarely admitted his mistakes. At least, not publicly.

He seemed to approve of Rey, but Finn still didn’t have a clue of how to properly introduced her to his parents. The humored side of him wanted to outright call her by her divine title to see how they would react.

“Lord Dameron,” the king addressed Poe. “Please help Lady Rey mount up.”

Rey held her hand up to stop him. “Thank you, Your Majesty, but I’m going to stay here for now. There are… things I want to check on.”

“We’ll see you at the feast tonight, won’t we?” the king inquired. He sounded almost as nervous as Finn had the first few nights of the festival whenever Rey vanished on him.

They could not see her smile, but they could hear it. “Of course I will.”

* * *

Though there had never been a formal announcement of the pending cancellation of the final night of _Féile Óir,_ a sense of relief washed over the nobility when they learned they wouldn’t have to make last-minute arrangements to evacuate the entire festival. They tried to continue on like nothing had happened, but many couldn’t shake the thought of what could have happened had Prince Finn and his mysterious lady friend not been there.

And tonight, the final night, was one of the most heightened excitement surrounding it. The unmasking at midnight was always special, but tonight, everyone wanted to see the face of the woman that saved them.

Jittery, Finn wondered how the night would go. He dressed in almost his finest – that was reserved for the wedding – another red tunic, this one weaved with golden threads. He made sure his cuffs were straightened and no wrinkles showed on his black trousers. Everything had to be perfect.

“How do I look?” he asked Poe.

“…Prince-like?” his friend tried.

Finn sighed. “Okay, not exactly what I was looking for, but I’ll take that.” He adjusted his tunic one more time before he removed the ram mask off the nearby table. Placing it on his face, he pulled the string in the back of mask to keep it secured snugly on him.

Following suit with his stag mask, Poe checked himself in the mirror one more time. “Well, last night for this. The mask is gonna come off anyway."

The prince supposed he was right. The start of the feast was growing closer and he could only try to smooth the invisible wrinkles on his clothes so many times.

“Let’s go then.”

* * *

Rey didn’t appear for the feast, and while Finn knew it probably had to do with her normal schedule, he still felt on edge. There was always the fear she wouldn’t show up, disappearing from his life almost as quickly and unexpectedly as she had entered it.

His nerves only grew each time someone asked of the whereabouts of his lady lioness. Most were only teasing, but some were genuinely concerned that something happened between them.

By sundown, the prince was too fidgety to keep sitting with his family and friends. He stood up, politely excused himself, then went to stand outside. He stared at the forests, hoping to catch sight of Rey coming down the hills.

It might have been a minute or two later, but as he focused off to the distance, he was startled by a light tapping at his shoulder.

He sighed when he saw her standing next to him. “Oh, Rey.”

“Did you think I wasn’t going to show?” She grinned, knowingly.

“Well…” he began. “I thought you would be at the feast.”

She laughed. “I wanted to save you the sight of my table manners.”

“An animal at the table, are you?” Finn shot back.

“Absolutely _beastly.”_

They beamed at one another, only to be interrupted by a loud groan.

“By the gods! You too?” Jannah exclaimed, though more annoyed, if anything. “You two were _made_ for each other.”

She had Rose by the hand, pulling her along behind her out of the feast before they crossed the paths of Finn and Rey. Under her mask, Rose tried to hide a smile, but she failed to keep her mouth from twitching. They had been caught, though it was Jannah who gave them away.

So she had made up her mind then, Finn thought. Not that he was surprised. He wished them the best.

There was an awkward pause between the four of them until Jannah suddenly said, “We’ll be back in a little bit. There are… things we were going to discuss. Privately.”

He almost snorted, but instead, he nodded politely. “We’ll see you later, then.”

His sister grabbed her friend by the hand again and led her away. Rose said something to her, and they burst into a fit of giggles.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” Rey observed.

Finn reached for her hand. “They shouldn't be the only ones. We should have our fun too.” The music had begun, providing background noise for them. That meant the tables and benches had been moved and the dancing had begun.

Allowing him to lead her in, Rey leaned against his side, looping her arm through his. Upon entering the tent, they were greeted by humored cheers and gratitude from those who had been aware of the service they did.

Rey shuffled uncomfortably against him. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m just not used to this kind of attention,” she said.

Her discomfort just reminded him how un-goddess-like she acted. There was still a lot he didn’t know about her. He wondered if her mortal origins played a part in her behavior and character.

“You’re not going to run out on me tonight, are you?” he tried to lighten the mood, but he felt his wording was too serious.

She nodded. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I promise.”

Poe wandered up to them. “I am joyed to find you have graced us once again, m’lady,” he greeted with a smile.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, my lord,” Rey replied politely.

“The pleasure is mine. We have much to thank you for.” He looked between her and the prince. “Both of you.” Then, he playfully tapped a light fist against Finn’s free shoulder. “Not that I had my doubts.”

“The prince is blessed to have a true friend by his side.” She said this warmly and with honesty. “Anyone should count themselves lucky to have a friend such as yourself."

Stuttering, Poe was taken aback, like he wasn’t expecting anyone to give him such praise. “You speak too well of me, m’lady. But thank you.”

“I would ask another dance with you,” Rey requested. “After Finn and I have had a chance to a few ourselves.”

Poe bowed slightly. “You honor me again, m’lady.” He looked between them again. “I hope everything goes well for you two tonight.”

He left them where they were before he went to the sidelines to address those who didn’t seem to have dance partners. It was something he did out of kindness, but Finn wondered if maybe Poe was hoping someone would catch his fancy too.

Rey tugged Finn’s arm lightly with hers, letting him know she wanted to dance. They moved to the side, standing to wait for the current dance to end and applauded when it finished. As the musicians prepared for the next round, they took their places on the floor.

“My parents will be very watchful tonight,” he commented as he glanced over to the dais. His mother and father were laughing with Queen Maz about something.

Bringing his attention back to her, Rey reminded him, “Relax. If you seem tense, they might think something’s wrong. Let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

She was right. Tonight was about them enjoying the last night of the festivities without having to worry about a demon god showing up to ruin things. They earned this.

At some point during their third dance, Jannah and Rose reappeared and Finn and Rey took the opportunity to switch dance partners. She took Poe up on his offer again, while Finn asked his sister for a dance.

“Did you two have a nice talk?” He wanted to sound pleasant while he really wanted to get the details out of her.

Jannah nodded, her horse mask wobbling a little. “Rose understands our… situation. We’ve decided to take it slowly and accept the reality surrounding us.”

He hugged her when they were dancing close together. “I hope everything works out.”

“I hope so too. I know it’ll work out for you and Rey. After your discussion with mother and father… well, they know it’s serious.”

She was talking about when they returned to the camp and into the waiting arms of their mother that morning. His family had a lot to talk about and most had to do with Finn’s future. Their sudden embrace of his magic still shocked him, but he understood that they never saw the practical use for it until now.

And over the last few days, the prince had been given a lot to think about and how it affected his own future. Tradition was nice and all sometimes, but there was a big world out there, and some things were more important. Lately, he also wondered how many deities were out there who were like Rey, being forgotten and about to fade from this world. Not that he had sympathy for gods like Kylo, but there were probably those that didn’t deserve such a fate.

His parents weren’t completely happy with his choice, but they understood how important it was for him to learn magic better. He promised them he would visit often, but he knew his path now. 

And Rey was part of that path for the foreseeable future if she wanted him in her life long after tonight too. He wanted to ask her after the unmasking, after she and his parents properly met.

“You seem lost in thought,” Rey commented when she returned to his side.

“There’s been a lot to think about,” he admitted, moving over for her to sit next to him on the bench. “All good though,” Finn quickly added. “I think."

She laughed. “Doesn’t sound like you’re sure about that.” Leaning closer to him she placed her hand over his on the wood. “You understand my concerns though, right? About immortality?"

“Yeah…” When he thought about it, his heart clenched every time he imagined his parents grow old and pass on and his siblings following the same cycle.

He didn’t have to make his choice right this moment though. There was plenty of time.

As midnight approached, the energy of the guests only grew. Finn had never stayed this long in the tent before and without the stress of the last few nights, he could admit it was nice.

Queen Maz stood up slowly, raising her arms up to bring the tent to silence.

“Midnight draws near,” she began. “And with it the end to another _Féile Óir.”_ The queen looked around at the guests, like she was trying to memorize each of the masks where they stood. “Until next year, that is.”

A chuckle drifted through the room. Likely, it was from those that returned to the festival year after year.

Breaking through the night, a chime rang out, signaling the countdown until the new day.

“When the chime rings twelve, remove your masks,” she instructed.

The crowd chanted the countdown in unison.

_Six._

_Five._

_Four._

_Three._

_Two._

_One._

In unison, everyone removed their masks as the chime rang out one last, deeper note. Finn slowly removed his own, the weight of the horns on either side of his head causing it to wobble as he loosened the tie.

After spending all night with it on, he felt almost naked without the mask against his skin and could only imagine how Rey felt. Turning to her, he found her also without her mask, staring straight ahead with a slight pink blush on her cheeks. He looked around and noticed a lot of eyes on her.

He reached for her hand again, hoping that his presence would at least be some comfort to her. Looking up at the dais, his parents smiled at them.

Queen Maz waited a moment, scanning the tent and all the faces – lingering on Rey’s face longer than the others, Finn noticed – before she spoke again.

“May the gods bless you all.”

There was a polite round of applause before everyone began to move around to speak to newly revealed faces. Rose and Poe shook hands before they joined Jannah in rushing over to get a glimpse of Rey.

“So there’s a woman under there after all,” Jannah teased.

“Jannah, Rose, Poe, this is Reyna,” Finn introduced. “Though you’ve all met before.”

They exchanged formalities. Curtsies, handshakes, a bow. Then they began to chat as if they were already old friends, speaking of their clothes and their surprise of who was behind the many masks of the night.

His parents stood up, King Caeid beckoning his son to approach them. It was time.

Finn lightly nudged Rey on the arm. “My parents.” He nodded towards them.

Rey understood what he meant and linked arms with him when he offered his. “Moment of truth.”

They marched over to them and stood at the opposite side of the long table. The king and queen looked at them expectantly, pleasant reactions on their faces.

“Mother. Father,” Finn began. “I would like to present Lady Reyna-"

On the other side of the table, a voice interrupted him. “Oh, Baroness! It _is_ you!”

The Royal Family of Artorias looked over to see Queen Maz grinning widely. Taken aback, Rey looked shocked for a moment before her expression changed and she curtsied.

“Your Majesty, it has been too long.”

Maz walked over to join them. “Too long indeed. I thought it was you under there, but I wasn’t sure. Last time I saw you, you were just on the cusp of womanhood.”

King Caeid glanced curiously at his relative. “You two know each other?”

“She’s the young baroness of our Lake District,” Queen Maz explained. “Came into her inheritance too young, the poor dear.”

Bewildered and confused, Finn wasn’t sure what the queen was talking about until he caught her eye and she winked at him.

_Oh._

She was covering for them. Somehow, she knew Rey had no title to her name, but vouched for her nobility anyway. It seemed to appease his parents. They would never question the word of the Queen of Takodana.

“It is lovely to finally meet you face to face,” King Caeid addressed Rey.

Curtsying, she replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Queen Isana waved her hand to ask Rey to move forward. “I noticed your hair,” she said, “and I wanted to get a better look.”

Finn noticed her hair for the first time that night. He thought they were pulled back in the typical three buns she had always worn, but tonight, they were slightly different. The buns were fuller, with a long braid weaving between them in a serpentine fashion. It was a far more elegant style than she had ever worn. Along with her cream dress, the one she wore the night before, he could believe she held a noble title.

“It’s lovely,” the queen continued. “Who styled it?”

“I did,” Rey admitted, shocking Finn. He thought she would say a lady’s maid had helped her.

His mother mirrored his expression. “Yourself? But…” Her eyes widened. “Oh, magic?”

Rey nodded. "It has many uses. Some more practical than others."

“Are you going to teach Finn to use his better?” Isana asked. This grabbed the attention of Finn and his father. He hadn’t asked her yet, but he had hoped she could give him lessons.

She smiled at him, knowing what he was thinking. “If that’s what he wants. I would love to.”

Looking back and forth between them, Finn’s father cleared his throat. “I’m not sure if you are aware, Baroness,” he began, “but my son asked for permission to court you.” 

The prince felt his heartbeat speed up. “And what have you decided?” He swallowed roughly.

“I may not know you well yet, but already, I can tell you are a worthy match for my son.”

Feeling himself release a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, Finn suddenly had a sense of elation overtake him. After stressing about this moment, about fighting the God of Greed, everything fell into place for once.

Next to him, Rey almost radiated the same feeling.

“Father, thank you,” he replied, resisting the urge to grab Rey’s hand for the sake of proper behavior.

His mother nudged her husband gently. “As much as I would like to get to know you even more, Baroness, I’m sure you and Finn have much to talk about. We'll probably have more time later.”

Thankful his mother just excused him, Finn bowed while Rey curtsied again. Then, they linked arms again and walked towards the tent exit. They stopped by Queen Maz to bow to her again.

“Your Majesty,” Rey began, “I can’t tell you how thankful I am.”

Queen Maz smiled almost bashfully, which was not what Finn had expected. “I know you may not remember – I was so young then – but I hope this is enough payment in return from when you rescued me.”

“Huh?” Finn gaped at the women.

Explaining, Rey added, “I remember a certain young pirate queen falling down a steep hill. When I got to you, your face was scraped, and you were knocked unconscious. I’m surprised you saw me.”

Finn still wasn’t sure what was going on, but he could only guess by context that decades ago, Maz and Rey had crossed paths. He’d heard stories of the spirited young pirate queen before love tamed her heart and convinced her to come ashore. Most days, it was hard for Finn to believe that such a petite, elderly woman had ever been young.

“It _is_ you,” breathed Maz. “You healed me. I always remembered a fuzzy image of a woman wearing a mask like yours, but I was never sure who helped me that night until you appeared here.” She leaned forward into a shaky bow. “It is an honor, Your Grace.”

"The honor is mine.” Rey shook her head. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done to help me.”

The queen scanned her face before raising a wrinkly eyebrow. “Then we’re even?”

“I would say so.”

Rey began to tug Finn along again. “Thank you again, Your Majesty. I hope our paths will cross again.”

The stars were clear outside, dotting the sky and telling tales of the oldest gods in their constellations. Finn could see the proud white swan, a transformed daughter of an ancient hero, and the eagle who served the thunder god of his kingdom. He wondered if the Takodanans had different names and stories for them, which brought him to where he began with his conversation with Rey.

“I’ve been wondering: how many gods and goddesses are being threatened with fading?”

Shrugging, she hummed. “Probably too many. I’m certainly one of the lucky ones.”

“I’m concerned what we did here isn’t a long term solution,” confessed Finn. “How long will it be before mortals forget your name again?”

The frown on her face told the prince she had thought about this but tried to keep it out of her mind. She had evaded failing for now; that was something to celebrate.”

“I told my parents I plan to return here after the wedding to court you. What I haven’t told you yet is that I also wish to write the stories of the deities of this world and distribute them in the form of a book. If it’s not written down, people will forget your names and we’ll forget our pasts and histories. I’d hate to see that.”

She still frowned. “Even gods like Kylo?”

“Well,” Finn chuckled, “those might be an exception. If you believe another will take his place, there’s nothing we can do about that. We can’t stop greed. But we could limit his power.” Even the prince had his doubts there.

Running her hand against the fabric of his tunic, where Kylo slashed him the night before, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, lips warm against his skin. “You always put others before yourself.”

Then, she stepped back and unwrapped the leather vambrace around her arm. “I believe I still have to reward you for guessing my name.”

“I thought you already had?” Finn replied.

She smiled. “That was a little different… and not exactly my intention when we first met.” Holding out her free hand, she took the prince’s right arm and wrapped the long strap of leather around it. It fit him perfectly, which was why she had to wrap it around her slender arm twice when she wore it.

“Prince Finn of Artorias,” her voice became commanding, binding. “For your service to me, I give you my blessing. When you wear that, your magical strength will increase, and you will not have to ask the spirits to aid you in earth magic. I grant you my power.”

Turning his wrist inward, Finn studied the vambrace. It looked handmade, probably by Rey herself. Etched into it, was the careful carving of a stylistic ram, rearing with its head tucked in, horns poised for attack. 

He would cherish it forever.

Rey continued. “And my love.”

Removing her fur capelet, she presented it to him, the golden fur soft and radiant. Finding the small, nearly invisible slits on the front of his tunic, sitting just below his left shoulder, she looped the tie of the capelet through and secured it. Then, she walked around him to the opposite side of his back to do the same to another slit there. The fur was too short to completely wrap around his body, but he wore it like a half-cape proudly. It was a token of his lady’s favor.

“I’ll return it to you when the wedding is over,” he told her. “You can hold me to that.”

Her hazel eyes flashed with a hint of mischief to him. “It’s dangerous to make such a promise to a goddess, especially if you don’t mean to keep it.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Do you actually doubt my word?”

“Perhaps,” she teased as she leaned up slightly to kiss him.

Warm against him, Finn wrapped his arms around her back and waist, pressing his lips to her to return his enthusiasm. He would miss this, and though he would only be gone for a few weeks at the most, the memory of this moment would have to last him.

She breathed against him, as she pulled back a fraction. “I don’t wish to part from you just yet, but you should get some sleep. Your journey to Yavin starts again tomorrow.”

Holding her close, Finn moved his nose to nuzzle it against her neck. “Not yet,” he begged.

A smile formed on her face again. “Not yet,” she agreed, even as she urged him to go back to the campground. “I intend to warm your bed tonight. You just have to stay quiet.”

* * *

By mid-morning, the Royal Family of Artorias had packed up their camp and mounted their horses. Finn wanted to begin the journey on horseback, knowing he could opt to sit in one of the carriages later if he grew drowsy. Rey hadn’t kept him up for too long after she snuck into his section of the tent, but her touch still lingered like a whisper on his skin.

Jannah and his mother teased him when they saw the lion fur draped across his shoulders, but he knew they meant well by it. He worried it might grow too hot to wear under the summer sun, but he wanted to keep it close to him, to remind him of all he had gained at _Féile Óir._

It would be a long ride to Yavin, but with his sister and Poe for company, he knew it would go too fast. He reminded himself to cherish the time he had with them, for soon they would have to part ways again.

On the back of his gray gelding, he followed the wedding train out of the campgrounds, towards the crossroads, the forest only in view towards his left.

Movement disrupted the trees, and the prince glanced towards them. The Goddess of Wild Things preferred not to be seen in her home by mortal eyes, but for a moment, Finn saw the light fabric of her clothes and the tail and hind legs of a forest lion vanish from view.

The myth and mystery of the forest would live on, and Prince Finn would see that the memory of the goddess who watched over it would never fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First thing is first. All those gods I mentioned in this story? Here they are:
> 
>   * Leia - Chapter 1 - in the form of a dove; Mother Goddess
>   * Lando - Chapter 2 - in the tent gambling; God of Luck
>   * Rey and Kylo - Chapter 3
>   * Han - Chapter 6 - in the form of a badger; Great Earth God
> 
> And finally, this fic is now complete. Thank you readers for all the kind words. This fic was a joy to write.
> 
> I am exploring the possibility of publishing this story in the future as it's own original work. For those of you who might want to read it as a Finn/Rey fic in the future, it may be wise to download it. I can't say when I would take it down, but there will come a time when I will have to.

**Author's Note:**

> **Characters (as they are named):**  
Finn - The youngest prince of Artorias. Wears a ram mask.  
Poe Dameron - A Yavinese diplomat; Finn’s closest friend. Wears a stag mask.  
Caeid - King of Artorias; Finn’s father  
Jannah - Princess of Artorias; Finn’s sister. Wears a horse mask.  
Rey - a mysterious young woman in a lion's mask.  
Isana - Queen Consort of Artorias; wife of Caeid and mother of Finn and Jannah  
Rose Tico - Youngest daughter of the Earl of Hays from the Kingdom of Otomok. Wears a cat mask.
> 
> Some chapters will feature cameos of certain characters who take the form of deities. Can you spot them?


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